


on thin ice

by mazeofmemories (slowmode)



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Attempt at Humor, Denial of Feelings, Enemies to Lovers, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Ice Hockey Player! Jisung & Hyunjin, M/M, a little bit angst, changbin is as old as 97 line, cursing, lowkey slow burn, many cute moments between the friends, minho is rich (more like his parents), more like Enemies to Friends to Lovers, sleepover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 21:49:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20553224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slowmode/pseuds/mazeofmemories
Summary: Jisung disliked Minho. Minho disliked Jisung.That's how simple it was. Until one day, they both got in trouble and had to work together as a punishment. For them, this was a nightmare.Jisung knew that this was going to end badd, really bad. But what if he was wrong?





	on thin ice

**Author's Note:**

> hello! 
> 
> i'm not a native speaker so i apologize for any grammar mistakes. i worked around two months on this so i really hope you guys will like it :')  
there's a high chance that i will, when i have more time, read over this and change (and maybe add?) some stuff.

Jisung hated going to school. Honestly, it wasn’t _ that _bad for him. He had friends who he could hang out with not only during but also outside of school. And they were the best friends he could ever wish for. They tend to tease him (too often in his opinion) whenever they got the chance to do so. For example when he got asked by his chemistry teacher what the element symbol of nitrogen is and since he wasn’t paying any attention, he answered it was C. Almost everyone in his class, including his chemistry teacher, bursted out in loud laughter not to humiliate him but rather because it was funny and typical Jisung. But still, he loved them with his entire being. 

Even though he was surrounded by the people who he loved the most, there was something- no- _ somebody _that had to ruin his day since the first school day. And this someone was a boy in his class who went by the name of Lee Minho. 

Lee Minho. Not an unknown name in his school since he was one of the popular boys in his year, not only there but in the entire school along with his friends, who were a grade above him. Unlike Minho, his friends seemed pretty cool and sympathetic at the same time whenever he passed them by on the hallway (sometimes the boys greeted him with a small, barely visible wave.) 

Minho had almost everything that a heart could desire; he got entitled as the most handsome boy of their school, he bathed in his parents’ money and he was (allegedly) a talented dancer and ice skater.

And right now, Jisung stuck in one of these moments where he had to endure Minho’s annoying actions. Currently, he was sitting in middle of history class, minding his own business but most importantly focused on the things that Mrs. Kwon was teaching the class. But the stupid, annoying brat Minho was throwing tiny paper balls against the back of Jisungs head which Jisung ignored as much as he could, hoping he would stop in any moment.

Oh boy, he was so wrong.

Minho continued to fling the slips against his head. Jisung pressed his lips into a thin line and balled his hand, which held the pencil, into a fist, pressing it on his work sheet until the tip of his pencil broke. The blood rushed to the tips of his ears, coloring it in a burning red; he was pissed.

He furiously turned around on his chair, glaring deathly at the boy in front of him who sent him a whimsical smirk. 

“What the fuck do you want?” hissed Jisung in a low, venomous voice.

“Lower your big head a little bit I can’t see what she writes on the blackboard.”

“Let me think about it… no.”

“I swear to god Han I’m going to rip your -”

“Mr. Lee and Mr. Han, I want to see you both after the class ends,” interrupted Mrs. Kwon their bickering with a threatening voice. 

After several minutes, the school bell rang and announced the dismiss of the class, who was already tossing their school material in their backpacks and stormed off the classroom to leave this building except for the two boys. Of course they didn’t forget that Mrs. Kwon summoned them to see them after class.

The middle aged women leaned relaxed against her working chair, holding with her thin, veiny hand the homework of a student in the air while following the lines with the pointer finger of her free hand. As soon as the footsteps of Jisung and Minho echoed in the empty classroom, she peered at them through her thin framed glasses, which made the woman look younger than she was. 

“Boys, at this point I’m just sick and tired of your antics during class,” began Mrs. Kwon as soon as they stood right in front of her desk, “other teachers reported the same thing about you two. This can't go on.”

“I just asked him politely to lower his head because he blocked the view of the blackboard.”

“So you had to throw some paper slips against my head or what?”

“How else would I get your attention without disturbing the class?”

“I don't know maybe if-”

Mrs. Kwon groaned internally, blocking out the silly fights of her students. She removed her glasses from her nose and placed it on her desk to pinch her nose bridge, holding back a loud, annoyed exhale. “Enough!”

Jisung and Minho immediately lowered their voices until they were mute, obeying their teachers order and turning their bodies in her direction. 

“You know what? I’m going to punish you both for your childish behavior. I want you both to do a 45 minutes presentation about the Nationalism in Germany before World War II.”

Jisung, who looked at his shoes to avoid her scolding gaze, snapped his head up. His eyes grew wide as if they would almost fall out of his head, staring at her in disbelief. This couldn’t be true. As if she told them to work _ together _ on a presentation? Clearly, you didn’t need a fortune-teller to know that Minho and him working together would end up in a massive disaster. 

“What?!” yelled Jisung hysterically at the statement of his teacher, “no, I refuse to work with him.”

“So do I,” agreed Minho calm, more in a cold tone. In Minho’s thoughts, he had to give the response in a more mature way than Jisung did. For him it was a fact that he was more grown up than Jisung, who behaved more like a nine year old child rather than a highschool student. 

“I don’t care if you don’t _ want _ to work together but you _ have to _. You have three weeks to prepare yourselves. Herewith I declare this discussion as finished. You can leave now.”

“But-”

“I said, this discussion is over.”

Jisung closed his open mouth, turned on his heels and stomped out of the classroom while Minho followed him in a slow pace.

Outside of the classroom, Jisung could spot his friends standing in the hallway, right to the wall, and chatted while some of them were laughing at something that was said. As Felix, his best friend since they were toddlers, noticed the boy, he said something in the round which made them turn their heads in the direction where Jisung stood. Without any hesitation, they sauntered towards him, and greeted him not only with a beaming face but also with a quick, warm hug.

“How was class?” asked Ryujin while wrapping her arm around his shoulder to give it a quick squeeze.

“It fucking sucked.”

“Why that?”

“Because of the stupid ass Minho.” Jisung crossed his arms in front of his chest and sighed frustrated, ambling along with his friends towards the exit. 

Hyunjin giggled amusingly. “What happened now between the two of you?”

  
“This dumb idiot threw small paper slips against the back of my head to tell me to lower my head but he pissed me off with it and so I snapped at him and now we have to do a fucking presentation together.”

“Suits you right.” Jisung threw a glimpse behind his shoulder, only to see his youngest friend Jeongin smiling devilishly at him. 

“You,” Jisung said in a dangerous tone while pointing with his finger at Jeongin, “my friend, you have some death wishes.”

“Oh, is that a threat?”

“No, just a warning.”

“Anyway,” interrupted Eunji this conversation of her two male friends before it could escalate, “I don’t think it’ll end up badly. Eventually, time passes by super fast.”

“She’s right Jisung,” agreed Seungmin with Eunjin, who has his arm circled loosely around Felix’s waist, “just work effective and focused and you’ll have this whole thing behind you.”

“And also your complaints are, sorry for being harsh, useless because at the end of the day you still have to prepare this thing with him either way,” added Hyunjin, patting his back to comfort him.

Jisung knew that his friends were in the right; there really wasn’t a point in complaining about working with Minho because if he wouldn’t obey Misses Kwon’s order, then he would get into trouble and that was something he didn’t need right now. So that only meant one thing: pull himself together and endure this damned work.

Ryujin, in the meanwhile, removed her arm from Jisung’s shoulder to push the doors wide open so that her friends could slip right through it and walk towards the bus station. 

Just like the friends, the sun was today in a good mood; its golden, warm rays spread out through the azure sky, the air so velvety on their skin. Some fluffy clouds drift by on the most relaxed breeze. Even though it was almost the end of September, the weather had been warm for the past few days. 

Arriving at the bus station, they noticed that the bus station was deserted; there was not a single soul standing near the bus station.Well it looked like as if they missed their bus but they didn’t mind it at all since it meant they could spend more time together. Somehow, they managed that everyone could take a seat on the small by squeezing themselves on it but it only worked because Felix insisted to sit on Seungmin’s lap so that his friends had enough room to sit on the wooden bench. 

Jisung, sitting on the edge, threw a glance at the couple on the other end and couldn’t hold himself back from smiling at them. Felix and Seungmin, who laid his chin on Felix’s right shoulder and, his arms tightly wrapped around his waist, didn’t really perceived the fact that Jisung was watching them. Felix grabbed Seungmin’s hands, intertwined their fingers and rested his back casually against Seungmin’s chest, placing his head on his left shoulder.

During their friendship, Jisung never experienced Felix being this happy with someone. Seungmin fit into Felix’s life like a missing puzzle piece. They completed each other. None of them both changed a bit (because Seungmin was still a little bitch by playing dumb pranks on him and his friends) instead they inspired the other to grow into a better version of themselves. Jisung’s lips curled into a soft smile while having this thought on his mind.

“Jisung?” Hyunjin waved his hand in front of his face, bringing him back to reality. Jisung hummed in response. 

“Are you coming to practice today?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Oh, can I watch?”

“Jeongin sweetie, last time our coach kicked you out,” said Hyunjin, trying to keep a serious look on his face as he saw Jeongin’s cute pout.

Eunji and Ryujin didn’t even try to hold back their laughter. “How did that even happen?

“Well, he did many things that disturbed my coach like for example he recorded me how I fell down after we had to do a race on the ice,” answered Jisung, rolling his eyes as he heard Jeongin giggling about this event.

“Oh my god, please send me the video. I need it for a scientific research.”

“I thought I could trust you Eunji but now you are also on my ‘fake friends’ list.”

“Sorry Jisung for the betrayal but keep in mind that you will be the reason why I’m gonna laugh although I’m sad.”

“Thanks, I feel _ so _honored, Miss Han Eunji,” replied Jisung, the sarcasm impossible to ignore. 

“So can I come now or?” asked Jeongin, confused.

“No!” Hyunjin and Jisung yelled at him with one voice. 

“Oh look who’s coming.”

And as soon as these words left Seungmin’s mouth, everyone turned their heads to the left. Jisung held back a groan and tried to not roll his eyes, again, at the sight of the person coming towards the bus station. Instead he gripped his jeans tightly. He shouldn’t waste his energy for an idiot like Minho. This time, he was going to be the bigger person.

“I bet that as soon as he arrives here, they will start to attack each other.” Ryujin exhaled a short, low breath, leaning her head against Eunji’s shoulder, who was busy brushing with her smooth hand through Ryunjin’s shiny, brown hair. 

Minho waved at them with a warm smile which everyone, except for Jisung, retorted before he turned his back on them, putting his earphones in his ears. In all honesty, Jisung was kind of annoyed and mad that his friends still interacted with him although they knew he disliked him with every fiber in his body. But at the end, he couldn’t control the action of his friends. 

“I fucking hate y’all.”

“We love you too.”

“You know that he’s a dickhead.”

“I still can hear you,” said Minho while scrolling through his phone, searching a song from his playlist.

“Good.” Jisung paused for a short moment. “Dickhead.”

As Minho glared over to Jisung, he received a fake smile from him. His smile faded away, replaced by holding his middle finger up in the air. 

✧✧✧

Bodies slamming against the boards.

Sticks hitting the puck.

Loud gasps for air.

Jisung’s heart raced harshly against his chest. Beads of sweat streamed down his face and his back, soaked in by his undershirt. His feet hurt from all the skating in the tight knotted ice skates. But it didn’t hinder him from chasing the puck.

The players of the team glided on the ice, their sharp blades slicing through the sheet of ice, creating a hissing sound that filled up the whole ice rink. Outside of the field, the coach sat on the bench, body leaning slightly forward, and observed the players like an eagle while the assistant coach was on his left, clipboard in his hand, jotting down his own remarks of the players that stood out the most.

One of them was Jisung. 

The blond boy always kept his head in the game; he knew exactly what he had to do. He knew who he had to play the puck, he knew when it was the perfect opportunity to shoot the puck in the goal, he knew how to fool the opponents when he had the puck in his possession. Jisung was an all-around ice hockey player.

And he proved it in every game.

Right now, one of Jisung’s opponents, the players with a neon orange vest over their jerseys, possessed the puck and stormed towards their goal, two of his teammates following him closely behind. Hyunjin, who luckily was put together with Jisung in a team, chased him along with the left wing player to snatch the puck. The player looked up and tried to pass the puck to one of his camarads but Jisung prevented it by going in between, accepted the puck instead and glided to the opponents goal in the speed of light. He dribbled the puck with his hockey stick, confusing the goalkeeper, and shoot the puck in the upper right corner.

As the players heard the high-pitched whistle ringing through their ears, they took off their helmets. Clamping it under their arms, they moved towards the rail with easy strokes. With wobbly legs and strained limbs, the players stepped out of the rink and waddled towards their coach, involved in a discussion with the assistant coach. Once the players assembled in a semi circle around them, the coaches interrupted their discussion and stood up. 

The coach clapped once, rubbing his cold hands together, before he started to talk. “Boys, this was an amazing training. I’m super proud of you for coming this far. If we keep up like this, then there’s a possibility that we land in the first place. So don’t give up and keep on going. We can do it!”

They all shout in unison, like proud, fierce warriors standing on a battlefield, and some of them left the rink in a fast pace with puffed out chests while tilting their heads slightly upward. As the team arrived in the locker room, all of them, except for Jisung and Hyunjin, dropped their sticks and helmets to the ground and hammered against the lockers. Hollow thuds, mixed with the bawling of the boys, suppressed the silence in the entire room. 

Hyunjin and Jisung, however, stood embarrassed next to each other in front of the door, knitting their eyebrows into a deep frown as they observed the whole spectacle. Jisung admitted that Hyunjin and him sometimes took part in hammering wildly against the lockers but only to let the euphoria out of his body after winning a match. He could understand why this “tradition” (at this point, Jisung considered this as a tradition) motivated his teammates. Yet, it wasn’t necessary to this after every ice hockey practice because there are definitely other ways to gain motivation and mental strength.

Jisung’s thoughts as well as the thuds and bawling slowly faded, the silence dominating the room again. Everyone carried their exhausted bodies to their assigned lockers, either to prepare the utensils for their hot, steamy shower or change into their clothes (which in Jisung’s case was the latter option.)

“Do you need a ride home? Younghyun picks me up and I think, it wouldn’t be a problem for him to drop you home.” Jisung pulled his jersey over his head, crumpled and crammed it in his big sports bag. 

Hyunjin shook his head. “No, it’s okay. My mom is going to pick me up, but thank you for your offer, Ji.” 

“No biggie.”

Jisung put his oversized shirt over his head, slipped into his worn out shoes and closed his sports bag before he threw it over his shoulder. He grabbed his bag for his hockey stick and left, together with Hyunjin, the locker room, exchanging quick goodbyes with his teammates. 

Outside, the shadows were absorbed by encroaching darkness of the silent night. In the gathering gloom the shines of moon and the stars were covered by the bright neon orange light of the street lamps, illuminating the parking lot. The mild breeze blew through the two boys, whistling in their ears while their hair rustled. A goosebump spread on Hyunjin’s skin like a wildfire, making him to pull his jacket closer to his body. 

Normally, Jisung never spotted his brother’s car in the night since it blended perfectly with the darkness like colors of a breathtaking painting. As Jisung discovered Younghyun’s car, he said goodbye to Hyunjin before he parted from him to jog towards the vehicle, in which his brother sat, relaxed, on the driver seat. He scrolled through his phone, disinterested. 

Younghyun lifted his head from the radiant screen and scanned, with narrow eyes, the area for Jisung, who he recognized easily with those heavy bags he had to carry. After Jisung arrived at the car, he tossed his bags in the back seat and hopped in the passenger seat, buckling up rapidly. 

“What’s up, you annoying brat?” 

“Shut up, idiot.”

“I love you, too.” Younghyun said sarcastically, a false smile appearing on his lips while ruffling aggressively Jisung’s hair 

As soon as Younghyun removed his hand from Jisung’s hair, Jisung opened the sun visor, looking in the small mirror; his hair was a big mess. They looked like as if a bird nested there for years, thanks to his lovely brother. With a deep frown, he brushed his hand through his hair, fixing a few loosley blond strands, which fell down flat beside his face. 

“You still look ugly,” stated Yonghyun as he started the engine. The engine let out a deep sigh, which reminded Jisung of his grandfather in Incheon whenever he had to stand up to make a cup of tea for him and his wife, Jisung’s grandmother.

“At least I have a brain unlike you.” Jisung looked at him, batting his eyelashes quickly while his lips curled into an innocent smile. 

“Wow, ouch.”

“Just kidding. You know I like to mess around with you.”

“Yeah… a little bit too much if you ask me.”

Jisung rolled playfully his eyes at the response of Younghyun, but his smile still remained. Yes, he loved to diss Younghyun and made stupid little jokes about him; it was his way to show him his affection. Jisung tried not to say things that would hurt him, because that was the last thing he wanted. 

There was no one in this world that was dear to him as Younghyun. Of course, he loved his friends with his entire being but his bond with Younghyun was completely different. Younghyun was there for him during the hard times in his life. Jisung could remember whenever he got a bad grade or didn’t done well in a match, Younghyun would spent his own money to buy Jisung something little like an ice cream, so that he could forget about this for a short moment.

His brother was also the first person he came out to. At that time, Jisung knew, in the back of his mind, that Younghyun would never despise the real him but the fear and anxiety prevailed over his mind. His brother had a vague notion that something bothered Jisung but he didn’t pressure Jisung to tell him about it. Instead, he waited until Jisung approached him. After a few months of waiting (im)patiently, Jisung, eventually, scratched all his courage together and came out as gay. As soon as Younghyun noticed Jisung’s breath fastened and his eyes filled with water, he didn’t hesitate for long and pulled his younger brother into a warm, comforting hug, petting his hair while whispering him how proud he was of him for taking this massive, life changing step and he was going to support him as much as he could. 

When Jisung recalled these memories, a tiny smile spread on his lips. 

“Why are you smiling?”

“Nothing.” Jisung paused for a second, looking at his brother, who was busy with driving the car off the parking lot. “I just… thought about something that Ryujin told me today.”

His brother hummed, showing him that he was listening to him. 

Jisung’s phone buzzed in his pants pocket. Fishing his phone from his pocket, an irritated sigh left his mouth as he saw Minho’s name popping up on his screen. He opened the messenger app to give him a reply.

**from: dickhead**

to: jiral

when can you meet up

for the presentation (9.07pm) 

**to: dickhead**

from: jiral

idk is tomorrow okay? (9.07pm)

**from: dickhead**

to: jiral

its ok (9.08pm)

“Wow, this,” Younghyun emphasized the word ‘this’, after he got a glimpse of Jisung’s screen, “is one of the driest conversation I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”

“Yeah, it’s because we don’t want to talk to each other.”

“Oh, you’re texting the ‘I’m not allowed to say his name’ guy.”

“Yes, I, unfortunately, am.”

“Why that?” 

“This ugly hag had the audacity to throw paper slips at me and I kind of snapped at him. Thus we got in an argument and now I have to do a presentation with this fish face. ”

Younghyun shook, giggling, his head at Jisung’s explanation, who took a hysterical, deep breath before he leaned back in his seat. He closed his eyes. He rested his head against the vibrating window, enjoying the tepid breeze from the AC blowing on his sweaty face. While the car radio was tootling some funky pop songs, Younghyun gently sang along, drowned by the softly buzz of the vehicle. Jisung, though, didn’t perceive what was going on, which he blamed on his fatigue. 

Jisung mentally prepared himself for the next three weeks because they were going to be a torture. 

✧✧✧

It was lunch time when Minho and his friends sat at their regulars’ table. The pleasant fragrance of molten cheese, mixed with the aromatic scent of the Bolognese, extended through the crowded school canteen. As the students queued for the Lasagna, Minho had, unfortunately, the pleasure to not only hear the younger ones nagging that the Lasagna possibly would look like cloddy puke from a cat but also his friends exasperated him by involve him in a conversation about someone Minho tried to avoid talking about Jisung.

“Come on Minho, he isn’t _ that _bad of a person.”

“Chan, I don’t give a fuck. He still annoys the shit out of me. I don’t need to like everyone and not everyone has to like me. Period.”

Minho looked down to his plate and poked furiously his fork into his avocado salad, chewing it like an offended child. 

“But Minho-” Chan got interrupted amidst his sentence by Woojin suavely placing his big, smooth hand on Chan’s shoulder. He gazed at Woojin, who looked at him with pleading eyes, telling him silently that he should just drop the topic for Minho’s sake. And so he did it.

Minho knew that Chan only meant it well. Chan had a pure heart of gold but unfortunately, even gold was able to break. He was someone who Minho cherished with every fiber in his body; the boy tried to do everything in his power to diminish the burdened sorrowfulness his friend’s sometimes carried on their shoulders for a short and stressful period of time. It’s almost like as if an invisible antenna came out of his head, receiving the radiating vibes from his friends. Chan tended to push his own problems away to focus on finding solutions for the problems his friend’s had to deal with. His friends valued his readiness to help others. At the same time, they were worried about the fact that he would might start penting up his feelings instead of opening up.

Minho sent Chan a worried look, which he retorted with a genuine smile to reassure Minho that he was fine before Minho continued to eat his lunch. 

“A little bird told me that a certain person at this table has a crush.” After these words left from Minkyung’s mouth, all eyes, including Minho’s, landed on Changbin. The boy threw his arms theatrically in the air at the pairs of eyes lying on him.

“Why do you think it’s me?” Changbin whined in annoyance about his friend's vexatious teasing. 

Soojin, who ate her lunch up already, rested her chin on palms, gazing at him with twinkling eyes. “Tell us everything about them.”

“So it’s a boy. He’s a year below me.”

“Oh, Changbin hyung is going after the younger guys. Kinky.”

Changbin narrowed his eyes, threatened. “I’m going to kill you one day.”

Minho raised his hands in surrender, a lettuce leaf hanging out of his mouth as he was munching on it, before he consecrated himself to his food, picking his fork up to carry on eating. 

“Yeah like I said, he’s a year below us. He’s tall, handsome and athletic. I think he isn’t even human. He’s probably an angel.”

“And that’s everything you’ll tell us about him?”

“Yes, Woojin.”

“Why?”

“Because I get so flustered when I talk about him and I don’t want you to tease me about it.”

Soojin quirked her eyebrow when she heard Changbin’s statement. “Us? You mean Minho.”

“Why is everyone attacking me today? Did I turn into your punching bag?”

Minkyung nodded her head. “Pretty much.” 

Everyone at the table giggled as they heard Minho scowling, while muttering in disbelief curse words under his breath. 

In the meantime, Jisung spent the remaining time of his lunch time along with his friends by lying on the cut grass and relishing the warm shines of the luminous afternoon sun, stretching its rays across the clear sky. The birds on the trees chirped happily a song, which faded into the background due to the boisterous laughter and talks of the students. 

Seungmin rested his head on Felix’s belly, his nose stuck in a book, while Felix was running his small fingers gently through his boyfriend’s soft, brown hair. He closed his eyes, folding one arm behind his head. Eunji sat in between Ryunjin’s legs, her arms circled loosely around Eunji’s waist, her chin placed on her shoulder, sharing earphones with each other. Between those pairs, Hyunjin and Jisung sat cross-legged across each other and played a game of UNO, whereby Hyunjin was in the lead by two points.

“UNO!” Jisung shouted animatedly after he threw his card on the pile next to deck of cards, gaining a few irritated looks of the students around him. 

Hyunjin pursed his lips as he took a look at his hand, consisting of four cards. He carefully pulled a card from his hand and laid it on top of the pile.

A malicious smile formed on Jisung’s lips. “Ha! Thanks for changing the color into blue, you fucking loser.” After he tossed vigorously his last card on the pile, he threw his fist victoriously in the air, followed by Hyunjin’s groan. 

“Shush! I’m trying to read,” said Seungmin, trying to silence Jisung, who just rolled his eyes.

“I’m trying to read,” mocked Jisung his friend, while helping Hyunjin to collect the UNO cards. 

“I heard this.”

“Good, because this was my intention.”

“Fuck off.” Seungmin sighed with a hint of a grin in his voice as he flipped over to the next page. 

Seungmin wasn’t always annoyed at his friend’s antics; it was quite the contrary. He enjoyed it when they made themselves look like a fool, because he had the chance to film them and make fun of them later on. But he only enjoyed it when they were among themselves. Whenever they were doing dumb things in public, he avoided to interact with them by crossing the road in a hurry.

“And? Ready working with Minho hyung today?”

Jisung snorted at the question, fake gagging afterwards. “Thank you so much for reminding me, Hyunjin.”

“You’re welcome.” A gleeful giggle, and crescent-shaped eyes that twinkled mischievously. “It was a pleasure to remind you.”

“You can shove this up your ass, Hwang.”

“Come on Jisung,” said Eunji after pausing the song she was listening to with Ryunjin, “it isn’t going to be that bad.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

Jisung exhaled a deep breath. Maybe Minho wasn’t that bad as he thought he was. Maybe preparing this presentation with him won’t be a big disaster as he imagined it when his history teacher announced it. Maybe Jisung was just melodramatic. But nonetheless, he still had his doubts. 

✧✧✧

“I swear to god Lee, if you don’t put your fucking phone in your backpack, I won’t hesitate to throw it and you out of the window.”

“I’m going to break your fingers if you dare to touch me and my things.”

“Then put it away so that we can work for Christ’s sake!”

In Jisung’s surprise, Minho obeyed. He lifted his backpack from the grey, dusty fleece ground and provided his phone in his backpack, letting his bag fall back to the ground afterwards. He raised his head, meeting Jisung’s fierce look, and sent him a fake smile while he was batting his eyelashes innocently. “Happy?”

Jisung placed his hands on the mahogany desk and leaned over it. His lips curled into a tense smile, his eyes squinting as he scrunched his nose. “Yes, I am.”

At the moment, the two students were located in the meeting room of the student council, thanks to Yeeun, the president of the council. Luckily, she kindly accepted Jisung’s request to use the room, only because it was for working purposes. But mainly, she trusted him.

The large table was in the center of the room. On Jisung’s right side the sun trickled through the sheer white curtains, brightening the entire room. There was shelf at the wall, filled with books with vivid covers and different kind of snacks, next to the windows. The greening plants helped to give this room a cozy, home like vibe. Across from the shelf was a scarlet red couch, decorated with colorful cushion. Above the sofa hung pictures of different teenagers Jisung had never seen before. On the left, where the door was, were many open boxes but Jisung didn’t bother to peek what inside was. He assumed that they were the previous members of the student council. 

Usually, the council didn’t allow any students, who weren’t a member of the council, to even _ step a foot _in the room. A few years ago, they actually gave permission to the students to enter the room until some sophomore jerks thought it was funny to vandalize it and, poof, now it’s prohibited.

Jisung sunk down into the chair and grabbed, beside a pencil, a sheet of paper from the pile right at the end of the table. He gazed at Minho, who leaned nonchalantly back in his chair, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Like an eagle, Minho observed sharply every movement Jisung executed. An uncomfortable feeling settled down on Jisung’s bones, knowing that Minho stared at him like a helpless prey. 

An awkward silence occured. Neither of them spoke a word.

“Can you please stop?”  
“With what?”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t. Can you enlighten me?”

Jisung pressed his lips into a thin line in order to avoid letting out a groan. He was irritated. He was spending (more like wasting) only five minutes with Minho in the meeting room and the boy got on Jisung’s nerves already. If it wasn’t for the sake of keeping his school marks high, then he would already have left Minho here behind.

“Anyway, let’s start planning.”

“Okay can I propose something?”

“No, you aren’t going only to the poster.”

Minho huffed, looking at him with his widened, doe eyes. “Why?”

“Because you also have to do some research, dickhead.”

Before Minho could open his mouth to protest, Jisung took out five books from his bag, throwing one after the other on the table. After he finished, he slid three of these books in front of Minho. He glowered at Jisung.

“Why do I have three books and you only have two?”

Jisung shrugged before smirking devilishly at him. “Counter question: Why not?”

Minho drew back in a snarl, his jaw tightened. “Fine.” He growled.

Minho snatched another sheet and pencil for himself, placing his elbow on the table so that he could rest his chin on his palm. He randomly picked a book and started to flip nonchalantly through some pages. Jisung drew his lower lip between his lips, holding himself back to smile in victory. He loved defeating Minho in his own game, it was like winning in the lottery. Even though Jisung would like to deny this, he couldn’t ignore this itsy-bitsy warmth spreading in his body as he glimpsed at Minho, who knit his eyebrows in concentration when he read the page.

The meet up went strangely smooth. Neither of them were at each other’s throats, which was a good sign. So they spend approximately an hour of their time reading and jotting down on their papers some appealing facts they’d found in the books. After finishing their notes, they’d decided to continue later next week and left the room, without saying a proper goodbye. 

Jisung fished his phone out of his pocket, cracking a light smile as he saw the messages from his friend’s group chat on his phone screen. 

** _power rangers™_ **

** _pinkjin_ **

and???

how was it?

** _greennie_ **

spill!! the!! tea!!

** _bluesung_ **

welp

we fought at the beginning for 10 minutes

but we somehow managed to work tgt

ig

** _redhyun _ **

that’s it??

you didn’t scratch each others eye out

or hit each other with the books??

im kinda disappointed ngl

** _yellow mia_ **

what the fuck hyunjin???

** _redhyun_ **

what

im just kidding jeez

haha… unless?

** _whitemin_ **

stop it.

** _redhyun_ **

:(

** _pinkjin_ **

anyway!

im so proud of you for not punching him

** _yellow mia_ **

same!!

that’s already a big step in the right direction

** _bluesung_ **

thanks.. ig?

only two weeks and six days left!!!

and then i don’t have to deal with his annoying ass ever again

✧✧✧

The deafening sound of the ringing bell indicated the students that they were permitted to leave the classroom. The students quickly put their books in their bags, including Jisung himself. He stretched his neck to have a better view over the room although it was useless since the rushing students blocked his view. But after some of them left, he spotted his project partner still sitting on his chair, busy providing his stuff in his backpack. 

Jisung took a deep breath. He didn’t know what made him so nervous. He only had one thing to do. Telling Minho that they couldn’t study in the meeting room of the student council. And that was it. Nothing bad. But he questioned himself why his brain and his body made a big deal out of it. 

Jisung shook his head to get his thoughts straight. So he walked towards Minho until he stood in front of him, waiting for him to get his full attention. As soon as Minho put his last book in his bag, he raised his head from the ground and furrowed his brows. 

“What do you want, Han?” Minho asked, more curious than annoyed.

“Uhm… We have to work somewhere else today, because I-I got uh text from Yeeun noona this morning and she said that we can’t work today since the council needs the room for themselves.” Fuck, why did he started to stutter in front of Minho? This never had happened to him before. 

Minho nodded. “Okay… so do you have any suggestions?”

“We can go to my place if you want to?” 

“Okay.”

“Good. I- We have to leave now if we want to catch the bus.”

“Okay,” repeated Minho his previous answer.

He swung his backpack over his shoulder and followed Jisung, who already was on his way to leave the classroom. With Minho close behind him, they stepped out of the building into the incredibly beautiful autumn weather. The blinding sun shone bright like a diamond underneath the light in the sky with no clouds in sight. Red-brownish leaves rustled as they whirled in the wind. 

Arriving at the bus stop, they settled in the bench with a huge gap in between them. None of them exchanged words with each other. Instead, Minho scrolled disinterested through his phone while Jisung was bobbing his right knee up and down, glimpsing at his phone every two seconds to check the time. God, why did it feel like time was passing by so slowly? 

Approximately five minutes later, Jisung and Minho immediately stood up as they spotted from afar the yellow bus slowly pulling in, stopping in front of them with a jerk. They embarked the bus and, oh wow, to their expectations the bus was crowded as fuck. For some reasons, many women blocked the doors with their baby carriages. Many pensioners, business people and obnoxious teenagers occupied the seats (the teenagers were in the back, blasting some shitty songs and Jisung’s urge to twist their necks grew from minute to minute bigger and bigger.) Although they knew there won’t be any available seats, they still looked out for some but without success. And so, they stood in the aisle, holding the hand grip tightly, and remained silent during the whole bus ride. Jisung never felt so uncomfortable in his life until now. Usually, he rode the bus with his friends, entangled in a conversation but between him and Minho ruled an awkward silence. The same thing was with Minho. 

To the boys luck, after ten minutes arrived at the bus stop and Jisung internally thanked God that time passed by quickly, even though he wasn’t that religious. They disembarked eventually and breathed in the fresh air. Yes, it may be September but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t impossible for the air in the bus to be sultry. Together, they walked, with a big gap in between them, to Jisung’s apartment, Jisung leading the directions and Minho blindly following him. 

It only took them ten minutes to reach their destination. After Jisung managed to open the front door in one go, they entered the devoid hallway of the apartment complex. Their footsteps echoed in the hallway like in an old, undiscovered cave. Luckily, they only had to climb up one staircase to arrive at Jisung’s front door. They arrived at the front door and Jisung unzipped the smallest pouch, pulling out his house keys. Then he opened the door and stepped aside to give Minho, who frowned in confusion about Jisung’s gesture, precedence. As soon as Minho was in the entrance, the sweet scent of peony rose ascended his nose and he felt, mentally, more relaxed.

Jisung entered the apartment and closed the door softly behind him. “Mom! Dad! I’m back home.” He yelled as he put his backpack down to slip out of his jacket. Minho kneeled down to untie his shoelaces.

“Hi, sweetheart! I’m in the kitchen!” shouted his mother back.

“Uh… you can just put your shoes here to the side.”

Minho looked up to Jisung and his eyes followed from Jisung’s eyes down his hand, which pointed on a metallic shoe rack with an empty spot left. He looked back to Jisung and nodded his head, continuing to untie the laces. Jisung easily slipped out of his and shoved them with his foot next to the shoe rack. He leaned against the wall, arms folded nonchalantly in front of his chest, and waited patiently for Minho, who already got out of his last shoe and put them on the shoe rack.

Jisung walked, shuffling, in the kitchen with Minho following him timidly, almost anxiously. There, they found Jisung’s mother providing the items she had bought in the grocery. Minho assumed that Jisung’s mother arrived only a few minutes ago since she was dressed in an elegant, navy blue suit and fitting, leather shoes with heels, her neck adorned by a plain, silver necklace. He never knew the professions of Jisung’s parents but he would have never guessed that his mom would work in a bank or something similar. That was a small shocker to Minho. 

“Hi mom.” Jisung jogged towards his mother to greet her with a quick peck on her cheek. “How was your day? And where’s dad? Will Younghyun hyung come today to eat dinner with us??”

She blew the air from her puffed up cheeks out, sending her son a tired but genuine smile. “Stressful, as usual, but now I can cook for us a delicious dinner and prop up my feet. Dad is on his way home. And yes, Younghyun will come. He’s at Sungjin’s place and practices with them for their next small gig.” 

“Oh, really?”

“Yes.”

She looked behind Jisung and her smile widened until the outer corner of her eyes crinkled at the sight of Minho, who stood idly in front of the kitchen and observed the whole scenario while he was playing with the hem of his basic black shirt, his lips pursed. Whenever Minho was slightly nervous about something, he began to twirl the hem. Honestly, he didn’t know remotely why his brain reacted in that way. When he met his best friend’s parents, he was rather excited than nervous to meet them because his friends told lots of cool and interesting stories about them.

“Who’s the visitor outside of our kitchen?”

“Oh.” Jisung threw a glance behind his shoulder. He almost forgot about him. “That’s Minho, a classmate of mine.”

He turned his body to Minho, introducing him to his mom. “Minho, this is my mom.”

She looked youthful for her age, thought Minho. She had big, doe eyes, her lips tugged in a warm smile. Her dark brown bob haircut framed her smooth skin that gleamed underneath the light of the ceiling lamp. Minho walked towards her and stretched his hand out, smiling awkwardly at her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Misses Han.” 

“Oh god, no, please call me Eunjung.” She took his hand and shook it loosely. Her hand was soft like as if he touched luxurious silk, not a single wrinkle visible.“It’s nice to meet you, too.”

After they shook hands, Minho took a small step back and squeezed his lips together. But then his jaw almost dropped at the question of Jisung’s mother.

“Minho, would you like to stay a little bit longer to eat dinner with us?” 

Jisung looked at her with wide eyes, mouthing a ‘no’. That was the last thing Jisung wanted. First of all, Minho was his enemy, not his friend. Second of all, whenever he invited one of his friends over, he never had the chance to have dinner with them and his family. Minho, in the meanwhile, was ambivalent about her offer. On one hand, he could have easily dinner at home but on the other hand, if he accepted the offer, it would be the perfect opportunity for him to provoke Jisung with his presence.

“Thank you for your offer Misses, uh, I mean Eunjung,” said Minho, more confidently towards the end. “I gladly accept your offer.”

Jisung’s body stiffened at Minho’s response. He pressed his lips into a line to prevent a groan escaping from his lip and balled his hands into fists. 

“I’m happy to hear that. Dinner will be ready in about an hour.”

“Okay, and we are going to leave since we have to prepare a presentation.”

Minho quickly waved at Eunjung, before he left with Jisung the kitchen to go into Jisung’s room. As he stepped inside Jisung’s room, he suspected that his room would be a mess. On the ride side of the room, the warm sunlight shone through the window, lighting the room up. In the corner lay a fluffy, blue bean bag. Underneath the window was a white, small, probably going up to Minho’s hip, but wide shelf, filled books and framed pictures. To his left stood the rumpled single bett against the pearl white wall, the dark blue sheets completely wrinkled. The fairy lights were entangled around the white metal bars of the bed, including the bed-head. In Minho’s opinion, they helped to spread a magical aura in his room. Next to his bed was an antique night stand, with lots of objects on it like a night lamp, a book, a plate, an alarm clock. Jisung’s working desk was beside the night stand, also a complete mess along with his chair in front of it. Minho thought that Jisung probably wasn’t aware the function of a chair; you weren’t able to sit on it because a pile of different piece of clothing covered it (there were not only on the chair but distributed on the entire parquet floor.)

“Uh sorry for the little mess here. If I knew that someone would have come here, I would have cleaned it up.”

“Yeah… ‘a little mess’,” repeated Minho sarcastically, wiggling two-finger peace signs into air quotes.

Jisung blushed out of embarrassment, turned his back on him and picked up the clothes up from the ground. 

“Uh, do you want to drink something?” Jisung asked while continuing to collect his clothes. 

“Water is fine.”

“Okay, hold on a second.”

With that, Jisung left his room, clutching the clothes close to his chest, and therefore also leaving Minho alone in his room. During Jisung’s absence, Minho decided to take a closer look of his room. Hands crossed behind his back, he crept around the room and stopped in front of the small shelf, the three framed pictures catching his eyes. He crouched down and grabbed the nearest one, which was a picture of Jisung and his friends (he knew that they were his friends since he always saw them hanging together during the break and lunch.) It was a mirror selfie. The boy (Minho guessed that it was Seungmin, the super intelligent boy in his math class), who took the picture with a high tech camera, stood in the middle, surrounded by the six people (two girls and four boys, one of them being Jisung) huddling themselves to fit in the picture. Everyone, except for Seungmin, hooked their arms around each others shoulders and looked into the mirror, sticking their tongues out while showing the Rock ‘n Roll hand sign. 

Minho placed it back to its original place and picked the next one up. On this photo, Jisung was hugging a man tightly. Their lips were curled up into a toothy smile, their outer corner of their eyes crinkling just like Eunjung. No matter how hard Minho tried to resist, he couldn’t help but crack a smile at the sight of Jisung’s cute, chubby cheek being squished due to Jisung pressing it against the man’s shoulder. There were two things that Minho noticed; first of all the man resembled Jisung _ a lot _and second he was visibly taller than Jisung. Wait. Something popped up in his mind. Didn’t Jisung ask earlier on about a person called Younghyun? Was there a possibility that the man on this photo (probably Younghyun) could be his brother? 

Footsteps neared the door, signalizing Minho to put the picture back and run to his previous spot. As Jisung entered the room, balancing the tray to not spill the water and clamping his backpack under his arm, to place it on his table, Minho dropped his bag in front of his feet and took his notebook out. 

“My mom baked cookies yesterday and I thought maybe you want to try some. If you want some just help yourself.”

“Thank you.”

“Also do you have something against it when we work on the floor?” asked Jisung, scratching the back of his neck. “As you can see my desk isn’t really in a good condition.”

“No, it’s okay. As long as we can work on it.”

Jisung nodded slowly before he squatted on the ground, pulling his legs closer to his body so that he sat now cross-legged. While Minho was perching down on his heels, Jisung took out the supplies they needed. 

“I came up with an idea yesterday,” said Minho, reluctant.

“Go ahead.”

“It’s about the poster. How about using like two or three medium-size posters and-” Minho interrupted himself by opening his notebook and pointing with his finger on a sloppy sketch. The sketch showed three rectangles aligned next to each other and a line going through the middle of those rectangles. “-create a timeline? Then we can write down the most important years and maybe dates and write a short summary what happened on these years.”

Jisung knitted his eyebrows as he took a closer look on Minho’s scribble. Then he lifted his head and nodded with a satisfied smile. “I kinda like the idea! Maybe we can even glue some pictures on them.”

Minho hummed in agreement. “Oh, I also started to write a summary about Hitler’s biography and his rise in the German politics.” He turned over to the next page and pushed the notebook closer to Jisung. Minho watched how Jisung leaned closer to the booklet, his eyes wandered on the paper and his lips moved, but no words came out, as he read the lines. The nearer Jisung reached the end of the summary, the wider his eye became. 

“Wow,” breathed Jisung out, surprised. “Hyung, that’s an amazing summary. It’s perfect.”

The edges of Minho’s mouth tugged up. He didn’t know why Jisung’s compliment had the effect of making him feel even more proud of his own work.

Jisung clapped once in his hands. “Let’s get this work done.”

And so they wrote diligently the texts for their while eating some of the luscious cookies baked by Misses Han. In between, they often switched their positions from sitting to lying down to sitting back up again. To their surprise, Jisung supported Minho’s ideas, even suggested to change minor things like replacing a weak word with a stronger one. In someway, Jisung prefered this Minho, his private side, more than the one he had to see during school. This Minho was more giggly, hilarious and interesting. As much as Jisung would like to deny his next statement, he simply; deep down in his heart, he hoped a little bit, just a tiny bit, that his feeling wasn’t one-sided.

A soft knock on the door interrupted them from their work. The door opened a crack and through the door gap appeared a familiar face. It was the young man from the picture. 

“I’m delivering the message from our dearest mom that the dinner is served on the table.”

Just as he appeared, he also disappeared behind the door. While Jisung was mentally collecting the strength to heave himself from the ground, Minho stood steady on his feet already, waiting for Jisung. After Jisung, finally, got up, they went to the dining room, greeted by the aromatic smell lingering in the air. Minho’s mouth watered when he gazed at the amount of steaming food on the table, his heart jumping excitedly as he recognized the Bibimbap. 

“Oh, I see. The diligent boys are also here now.”

“Jisung and diligent? Funny joke, mom.”

Minho may knew the man for a few seconds but he already liked him.

“Shut up, _ Brian _ . Unlike you, I have the brain _ and _the looks.”

“If I were you, _ Peter _, I would be careful what comes out of your big mouth.”

“Oh god, boys, quit fighting.” Misses Han shook her head amusingly at the antics of her son while sitting down on the chair at the edge of the table before she turned to Minho, who sat down next to her. “Jisung and his brother Younghyun are _ always _ like that. At first, they treat each other like real siblings but from one moment to the other they are at each others neck.”

Minho let out a muffled chuckle. God, although he didn’t really like Jisung much, he couldn’t dislike his mother. This woman radiated like the sun warm, positive energy that made Minho feel cozy, but most importantly, welcomed in this apartment. Jisung took a seat next to Younghyun, who sat across Minho, and flicked his blond bangs from his eyes.

“Why isn’t Dad here yet?”

His mother sighed. “He’s stuck in traffic but he told me we can eat without him.”

“Okay. So, I guess then we can eat already, right?”

“Yes, you can. Enjoy your meals. 

“Thank you, you too.” The boys said in unison before they all filled the empty plates underneath the Bibimbap filled bowls with the side dishes. Together, they ate the tasty dinner while laughing at Jisung’s funny stories and jokes he shared with them (yes, even Minho had to laugh but only because Jisung’s impressions were on point) and Minho listening Misses Han jokingly scolding her sons for playing around like little children. Jisung glanced briefly at Minho, who smiled from ear to ear, eyes gleaming under the dim light brighter than the stars in the night sky. 

And maybe… maybe Jisung’s heart skipped a beat for a millisecond.

✧✧✧

“Hyunjin, why are you always looking over Jisung’s shoulder?”

Hyunjin hummed in response, lifting confused his eyebrows. “What? I’m not.”

“Oh my god, Hyunjin, you are looking at Chan oppa and his friends.” Eunji gasped dramatically. “Spill it out, Hwang!”

“What?” laughed Hyunjin, nervously, hand running through his hair, “no, I’m not. You guys are just tripping.” 

“You better be not friends with one of them. They are our enemies.”

“Jisung, just because Minho oppa is friends with them-”

“Ryujin, I said, they are OUR enemies.”

Ryujin rolled her eyes, shaking her head in disbelief. 

“Your behavior is kinda overdramatic, hyung,” commented Jeongin after he finished copying his homework. 

“Jisung, I’m not friends with one of them.”

“Thank god.” Jisung exhaled a long, relieved breath, placing his hand on his chest.

“In fact, my boyfriend is Minho hyung’s best friend.”

Everyone at the table dropped their jaw, staring at him with wide eyes. Hyunjin noticeably made himself small and swallowed hard, his heart leaping into his throat. 

“Congratulations!” Eunji jubilantly squealed, throwing herself on him to hug him tightly. 

“Shush, not so loud. I don’t want everyone to look at us. But thank you so much.”

“Hyunjin hyung, congratulations, I’m so happy for you,” said Jeongin animatedly, dropping his pen to the ground to join the hug. Happily, Hyunjin embraced him warmly and whispered a ‘Thank you, Innie.’

After the three parted from the hug, Ryujin was the next one to congratulate him while trying to give him the tightest, warmest hug.

Jisung still sat on his seat, dumbfounded. He didn’t know what to say, respectively, what to feel about this situation. He wasn’t mad nor upset about him dating someone who was friends with his enemy. Eventually, falling in love wasn’t a choice you made, it’s something that came unexpected in one’s life. And Jisung was aware of that; he was aware of the fact that he didn’t have one valid reason to be angry at Hyunjin. For God’s sake, Jisung literally knew Hyunjin since he could think and neither missed out _ one _ important event in each other’s life hence why Jisung shouldn’t be petty. So, he walked towards Hyunjin and wrapped his arms around him and Ryujin, pressing his cheek against Hyunjin’s shoulder. 

“Are you mad at me?” questioned Hyunjin, his voice sounding like a child after doing something that upset their parents.

“No. I could never be angry at my best friend for falling love and having, finally, his first boyfriend. If he makes you happy, then I’m happy, too.”

Hyunjin’s shoulders shook as he suddenly laughed softly at the last part of Jisung’s sentence, resting his head on Jisung’s. “Thank you so much, Jisung. It means the world to me.”

“You don’t need to thank me. Also if he dares to break your heart, I won’t hesitate to steal his kneecaps and break every single bone in his body. With my fists.”

“Since when are you so overprotective, Han?”  
“Since this talented fool is on Earth, Shin.”

“I love you guys. But can you let me go? Breathing for me gets a little bit harder.”

Jisung and Ryujin parted from the group hug and apologized to Hyunjin several times, who waved it off with his hand, reassuring them that he was completely fine.

“But how does the lucky one look like?” asked Jeongin curiously.

“Do you guys see the intimidating guy, who radiates the ‘Don’t touch me or else I will kill you’ energy?”

They nodded.

“That’s him.”

“Wow. He’s a dwarf.”

“Jeongin!” Hyunjin exclaimed aghast.

“What? I’m just stating facts.”

“Do you guys think that he has a big dick?”

Ryujin, Eunji and Jeongin yelled ‘ew’ in unison, cringing at Jisung’s question while Hyunjin hid his blushed face behind his hands, whining, clearly embarrassed. 

“What? Have you seen his nose? You know what they say about big nos-”

“Nope,” interjected Eunji him by covering his mouth with her hand. Eunji removed her hand from his mouth because Jisung suddenly licked her palm. She wiped his saliva on his shirt away, scrunching her face in disgust.

“Ew, dude! You are gross.”

“Be glad that I used the easy way. The hard way would have been biting into your palm.”

“Fuck you.”

“Awww, I love you, too!” cooed Jisung, wanting to pinch Eunji’s cheek but she slapped his hand away in the speed of light. “Anyway, I have to leave you guys to work on my presentation. Adiós, mis amigos y amigas!” 

“Bye! Please stay away from us!”  
“Don’t come back please!”

Jisung turned around his heel, walking backwards, and raised his middle fingers in the air, which his friends ignored skilful and continued to wave at him with a fake smile on their lips. Turning around back to the front, he suddenly bumped into a person and was close to apologize until he recognized who stood in front of him. 

“Watch out where you walk.”

“What the fuck? Watch out where _ you _ stand,” snapped Jisung, narrowing his eyes to create a dangerous look. 

Minho opened his mouth but closed it straight away. “Ugh. Nevermind. We should just go.”

“Oh wow, for the first time I actually agree with you.”

“Mh. Of course.”

“What does that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

“Hyung, just tell me.”

“Oh, you can be formal?”  
“Of course I can, you silly. I’m still a respectful human being and stop straying from the subject.”

And this game went on and on until they embarked the bus. Unlike on Wednesday, the bus was, surprisingly, less crowded, only a few elderly people sitting on their seats and either watched out of the window or gave a judging look at the teenager that entered the bus (including Minho and him.) After Minho spotted two free seats next to each other in the back of the bus, they sat down, breathing out a short breath and didn’t endeavour to start a conversation. 

Unlike on Wednesday, when they went to Jisung’s place, they had to ride the bus for twenty minutes until they arrived at Minho’s, which an absolute horror for both of them. Jisung was a talkative person, which meant for him being silent for a long period made him jittery. So, he tried to get into a conversation with Minho and he failed because Minho didn’t bother to give him long, proper answers to his questions. Jisung decided to entertain himself with his phone until they had to disembark. Minho’s phone vibrated in his hand, a message popping up on his screen.

It was Changbin. _ mint chocolate chip sucks _

** _spicy bean_ **

guys

can you do me a favor?

** _minho’s the best_ **

no

** _minCOOL_ **

minho

don't be so mean!!

what's up changbean

** _spicy bean_ **

you guys know hyunjin plays ice hockey

he has a game on sunday evening

and can you guys accompany me please? 

** _3x aussie chris_ **

im in :) 

** _partner in crime _ **

if someone picks me up

then sure why not

** _woobear_ **

thank you changbin omg

you saved my ass

i really don’t want to babysit the daughter of my neighbour

** _minho’s the best_ **

omw*

** _minCOOL_ **

????

wtf

** _woobear_ **

minho i mean oh my god

not on my way

** _minho’s the best_ **

in this context it should mean ‘oh my woojin’

** _partner in crime_ **

….

no comment

** _minCOOL_ **

i’m about to BLOCK you

** _3x aussie chris_ **

god, you're getting weirder and weirder from time to time

** _minho’s the best_ **

woojin, you're*

** _woobear _ **

for pete’s sake can you stop? 

** _dark binnie_ **

ANYWAY

this is getting lowkey out of hand

also

thanks minho for deviating from the topic

** _minho’s the best_ **

yw ;) 

it's the best thing i can do tbh

** _spicy bean_ **

yeah…. 

soooo everyone in? 

** _3x aussie chris_ **

yeahhhhh

** _minCOOL_ **

im definitely in!! 

** _woobear_ **

same!

** _partner in crime_ **

count me in as well :))

** _minho’s the best_ **

yeah

** _spicy bean_ **

:((

why?

** _minho’s the best_ **

first of all i have to see ******

** _3x aussie chris_ **

did you just censored jisungs name? 

** _minho’s the best _ **

yes i did, christopher

and now don't interrupt me again pls

second i have plans

** _woojin bear_ **

minho

watching kdramas while isolating yourself from the outside world is not a plan

** _minho’s the best_ **

yes it is

** _partner in crime_ **

a sad one

** _spicy bean_ **

pls minho 

i will buy you food for five days straight

** _minho’s the best_ **

deal! 

** _3x aussie chris_ **

wow that was quick. 

** _minho’s the best_ **

yup

anyway i have to leave you guy

ttyl

** _partner in crime_ **

ooh someone has a date w/ a certain person

;)

After they stepped out of the bus, they got greeted outside by the bright, laughing sun in the cloudless sky. Birds chirped happily a song, cars drove past the,When they reached the end of the path, which lead to his house, Jisung’s mouth fell wide open at sight of the house, astonished by the size of the alabaster white building with overall two floors, whereby the balcony on the second got held up by the majestic pillars. The house had narrow windows on the first floor but wide ones on the second. The sheer, white curtains prevented to see how the house looked from the inside. 

Jisung could tell that the first floor, which was completely open, was definitely bigger than in the apartment where he lived. The first thing Jisung noticed was the big, glamorous chandelier, adorned by voluminous crystals, hanging from the ceiling that ran down the centre of the ceiling. The crystals of the chandelier glimmered opalescent in the luminous sunshine, which trickling through the curtains. The colors of the furnitures were mostly white or light shades of brown, for example the couch and the armchairs, in order to fit with the white-beige marble tiles on the floor and the white painted walls, decorated with simplistic paintings and other minimastic objects. The big, green plants on the ground and the small flowers in the flamboyant vase on the shelves helped to give this room a touch of coziness. 

On Jisung’s right hung on the wall a family picture, where the men were dressed in fancy, dreary suits and diamond-studded watch, that were impossible to ignore, on their wrist. The women wore extravagant dresses in combination with expensive rings decorating their long fingers, necklaces covering their empty necks and long earrings dangling from their earlobe.

Minho looked ethereal on this picture; Jisung’s eyes caught first his sharp jawline, which could easily cut a sheet of paper. His perfect defined eyebrows supported the stern look and his matte, black hair, parted in the middle, fell graceful above his doe, brown eyes. Jisung chewed unintentionally on his lower lip, because, fuck, he looked hot as hell. 

“Are you done with drooling over me? I know that I look extremely handsome on this picture.”

Jisung scrunched his face up in disgust. “I wasn’t drooling over you, you prig.”

“Okay, if you say so.” Minho quirked his brow, not really convinced of Jisung’s statement. “Anyway, let’s go to my room.”

Arriving in Minho’s bedroom, Jisung couldn’t hinder himself from admiring it (especially since this room had more a lot of more space than his bedroom had.) On the right side stood on a fluffy, white carpet a king sized bed. The headboard pointed to the wall, and a white, thick blanket covered the whole bed, including the pillows. Underneath the window sill was a dark wooden, neat, organized desk, which had golden table legs, in front of it a comfortable swivel chair. On the left side was a huge bookshelf, the books sorted by the colors of the cover. There weren’t only books but also gold pokals and many medals from dance and figure skating competitions Minho had won.

“Wow. Your bedroom is very AHH WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?”

Minho turned around and chuckled when he saw Jisung flinching and jumping to the back, flapping with his arms like wild bird to not lose his balance. After Jisung lowered his head, opening slowly his eyes, he cooed while crouching to the ground. Three cats walked in front of his feet. He picked the smallest one up and held her in his arms, running his hand gently her soft fur. 

“Hyung, you have three cats?” Jisung asked in a high-pitched voice, looking at Minho in disbelief.

“Yup. The one you’re holding is Dori, the youngest. The chubby one is Soonie, the oldest, and the other is Doongie but she is a little brat to be honest.”

“They are so cute,” cooed Jisung as he let Dori down to the ground. “Hopefully, they won’t distract us when we work.”

“Same. I forgot to ask but do you want to drink or eat something?”

“No, I have a water bottle with me, but thanks for the offer.”

“Okay, then I guess we can start?”

“Yes, we can.”

  
  


“Hyung,” said Jisung after they’ve decided to take a break, “how is it like being rich?”

Minho’s eyebrows snapped together at the question. “Uh… Normal? I’m not any different from other people because I’m rich, respectively my parents.”

If this conversation went in the direction Minho assumed it would go, then he was going to kick Jisung’s butt. He didn’t like it when people, even his friends, inquired him about his rich kid life. It was something he didn’t like to talk about because first of all, he was born into this privileged life, it wasn’t something he wished for. Second, many people in his past speculated about how much money he had, how big his room was or how many brand new and amazing cars his dad owned. Unfortunately, he had experiences with his old ‘friends’ tried using him for his money but Minho quickly understood what they were trying to do and decided later to cut them off of his life. It was truly one of the best decisions he had ever made, although he developed some trust issues, because later he met his current group of friends and they were the best people he had ever met in his life. 

“Do you think that rich people can be like… _ sad _ sad? Because they think there is something that is missing in their life?”

Minho exhaled a deep breath. Just as he feared how the conversation would turn out. “Of course, Jisung. They are humans, too. What are you trying to indicate with that?”

“Nothing… I-I just mean that… that they have enough, like more than enough, money so they can buy the things they need and don’t have to worry about not having something.”

He dropped his pen, looking up from the sheet to stare directly in to his frightened eyes. He was fuming. “Jisung, that is utter bullshit. Yes, spending money can make you happy but only spend it on something materialistic like clothes from a high end brand, a luxurious villa and suchlike things. But you can’t buy with money _ true _ happiness or a fucking real family, who would actually care about their child’s well being!”

At the end, he got louder and louder because he was frustrated that someone like Jisung dared to assume such things. He thought that Jisung was smart and had enough empathy to understand him but it looked like that what he thought was wrong. Minho’s frown faded as he saw Jisung’s guilty facial expression. 

“Minho hyung… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you.” Jisung said in a small, guilty voice, tilting his head down in shame as Minho snapped at him.

Shit. He didn’t want to snap at Jisung, that wasn’t his intention. Minho shouldn’t have expected him to understand him because they both lived a completely different life. How should he have known about his struggles when they weren’t even friends? 

“It’s okay. I’m the one who should be sorry, Jisung.” He paused for a brief moment to breathe in and out. “My parents only care about their work hence why I’m an only child. I admit that they spoil me a lot since I was a child. I don’t really see them, if I’m lucky enough I see them in the morning before they go to work.”

Jisung frowned. “Is this the reason why you don’t really care about your grades?” 

“Pretty much, I guess. Why putting effort in something when they don’t even care? They only care about their work and show zero interest in me.”

“Honestly, what the actual fuck is wrong with your parents? They are one of the dumbest people I’ve ever heard of. And also did you just hear yourself?” asked Jisung. Minho noticed that Jisung was fuming, the tips of his ears turning slowly red. In Minho’s mind, he could imagine white steam coming out of his ears like by a cartoon character. 

“Jisung-”

“No, hyung. They are missing out on a lot of things, like a fucking a lot,” interjected Jisung him angrily. “We may not be friends but from what I hear and see with my own to eyes is that this boy, sitting across me, is an intelligent, diligent, athletic and loyal boy with amazing friends, who he supports as much as he can. Heck, if I were your mom or dad, I would fucking _ brag _of how mature and good my son is. Also, just because your parents don’t give a fuck about your grades doesn’t that you should do the same thing, hyung. Our future depends on these goddamn numbers and you have the potential to become something great. You should do things for your own good and not for someone else’s.”

Jisung left him speechless. Minho didn’t know what he should say. He would have never thought that Han Jisung, the boy he disliked, would say such things about him. As much as he hated to admit this but his heart fluttered at the compliment of Jisung, blushing hard right now.

“Thank you for your kind words, Jisung.”

“I’m just being honest. You’re not that bad as I have imagined it, Lee,” said Jisung, sending him a cocky smirk.

“I can say the same thing about you, Han.”

  
  
  


✧✧✧

  
  
  
  


The third period of the ice hockey match started and Minho regretted agreeing to Changbin’s plea. It was (at least for Minho) boring. Right now, Jisung’s and Hyunjin’s team, the Seoul Raptors, were with two points in the lead. The players on the ice rink fought for the puck, throwing on it like two animals eagerly chasing the same prey. Every ten minutes a player slammed their opponent against the border by ramming their shoulder against their opponent’s shoulder. Also, the permanent substitutions confused Minho hence why he quickly lost the overview over the players. After the first period of the match ended, he decided to give up and just cheer when his friends did. And Jisung’s. 

Yes, Jisung’s friends and brother were also here, watching the game. Luckily, he sat in between Changbin, whose eyes fascinatingly followed every movement of the players, and Younghyun, who just settled back against the unpleasant, plastic seat with his arms folded in front of his chest. Minho couldn’t really tell if Younghyun enjoyed the game since no face muscle of his moved. Jisung’s friends were the complete opposite of Younghyun; they hyped up every player of their friend’s team and encouraged them by shouting words like ‘You can get the puck!’ or ‘Nice job!’

But in the middle of the second period, a fight almost erupted due to the provocation of the player on the opponent’s side but luckily they could calm those players down before they could jump on each other’s throat. In addition, in the second period some dude from the Seoul Raptors, scored a point for the team.

Currently, the opponents had the puck in their possession, dribbling their way through the players in order to have the perfect angle to shoot the puck into the goal. Minho thought, that they would manage the shoot it but someone of the Seoul Raptors took the puck skilful away from the forward; it was Hyunjin. Changbin smiled widely, obviously proud of his boyfriend, cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed at the top of his lungs: “Good job, Jinnie! Shoot it in the goal!” 

Hyunjin skated on the ice, focusing on not to lose the puck, as if his life would depend on keeping this tiny, black thing in his possession. He looked around, noticed one of his teammates, wearing a jersey with the number 15 on the back, being free and passed them the puck over. The number 15 played around with opponents, irritating them with his dribbling tricks. He turned his back toward them and shoot the puck over to number 3. He gracefully took the ball with his stick, immediately racing towards the goal. Suddenly, the opponent gave him a massive body check, so that he had the chance to steal the puck from him. 

Minho and everyone around moaned in frustration, expect for Younghyun, over the puck loss. Nonetheless, they pulled themselves together and continued to cheer on the team. Okay, maybe Minho admitted that the game got a little bit spicier and more interesting (only through Hyunjin’s incredible action.) Minho leaned his upper body more to the front, arms on his laps, his hands laced together. 

And then the opponents shoot the puck into the goal. Now, it was a tie. The deafening buzz drowned the cheers and frustrated shouts of the audience out. Minho let his head fall down, shaking it inconspicuous but he lifted it up again as soon as the buzz resounded. He glanced at the scoreboard; they had four minutes left. As much as he hoped that Seoul Raptors scored another goal, he still had his doubts, which he tried to suppress (with success.)

This match was so thrilling and nerve-wracking. Minho’s heart raced hastily against his ribcage like an 808. Fuck, he could even feel the beats of his thumping heart up to his throat, which made breathing for him even more difficult. He knew the players had a hard time to keep the puck in their possession since their opponents didn’t make it easy for them but they gave their best, which was more than enough. 

Minho’s eyes wandered back to the rink. Someone from the Seoul Raptors had the puck under their control. It was the player with the number 19 on their jersey. 

Jisung.

Jisung possessed the puck.

Everything lied in his hands.

Minho’s friends, as well as Hyunjin’s and Jisung’s, were shocked when Minho stood up from his seat and yelled as loud as he could: “Come on, Jisung, you idiot! Shoot this ugly ass thing in the goal! You only have less than two fucking minutes!”

Not a second later, Felix, Seungmin, Jeongin, Eunji, Ryujin, even Younghyun, (and Minho’s friend’s of course) joined Minho, cheering on him to score the final point. 

It seemed like as if he heard them because he picked up the pace. He rushed towards the goal with determination glistening in his eyes. He skated like a pro past them, letting no one near him, respectively, the puck. And then he neared the goal.

Minho folded his hands and held it in front of his mouth. He stopped breathing for a second.

Jisung shoot the puck.

And he scored.

The buzz announced the official end of the game. 

The friends jubilated over the victory of the Seoul Raptors, jumped around and hugged each other. Minho celebrated also like a mad man, too, but he stopped once he realized what he was doing. He cleared his throat and applauded, drawing his lower lips between his teeth to hold himself back from grinning. He felt Changbin staring at him hence why he turned his head to him only to see a sly smile on his lips. 

“What? Why do you look at me like that?”

“It’s nothing,” answered Changbin before looking back at the rink, the smile still present.

After the game ended, the friends and Younghyun waited outside of the ice rink for the winners of the night, their cold hands buried in the pockets of their jacket. By now, heavy grey clouds had rolled over the night, concealing the bright full moon along with the stars. A cool breeze swept the fallen colorful leaves from the pavement onto the deserted road. Changbin pulled his beanie, that he got from Hyunjin, more down to cover his flushed ears. 

“Look who is coming,” Felix shouted and pointed at Hyunjin and Jisung as soon as he spotted them coming out of the ice rink. 

Their friends ran towards them, Younghyun, Changbin and his friends following them in a slow pace, and gave them a short, tight hug while congratulating for their win. 

“You guys did so well,” praised Eunji them, beaming like the sun.

“Hyunjin hyung, the way you stole the puck and dribbled your way to the goal in the first period was so cool.”

“Thank you, Innie,” said Hyunjin, ruffling Jeongin’s black hair. 

“Yeah, and Jisung obviously doing the final shoot.”

“I’m just the best,” commented Jisung on Seungmin’s statement with a cocky smirk, brushing his loose blond strand behind his ear. If Seungmin didn’t wear his specs, he would have pinched his nose bridge in annoyance.

Not even a minute later, Younghyun joined, along with Minho’s friends, and got Jisung fast enough in a headlock, rubbing Jisung’s scalp, who tried his best to escape from his grip while pleading him in vain to stop, with his knuckles. Letting Jisung finally go, Younghyun got a strong yet well-deserved punch on his upper arm from Jisung. During the entire scenario, everyone bursted out in laughter in amusement because of the antics of the brothers. 

“Fuck you that hurts so much,” snarled Jisung at Younghyun while massaging his (probably) damaged scalp.

“I just wanted to congratulate you,” said Younghyun innocently, poking Jisung’s cheek.

“Yeah, sure.”

Changbin hugged Hyunjin, after he pecked his cheek, burying his nose in his crook, humming felicitously as he breathed in Hyunjin’s sweet smell. While Minho, Jisung, Chan, Jeongin, Seungmin and Soojin covered their mouths and fake gagged at the couple, Felix, Ryujin, Eunji, Woojin and Minkyung cooed teasingly how cute they were.

Changbin stood on his tip toes, mouth next to Hyunjin’s ear. “I’m going to kill them one day.”

Hyunjin chuckled in response before he planted a kiss on Changbin’s forehead, hooking his arm around his shoulder and pressing him closer to his body. 

“Let’s go home. We have school tomorrow.” As these words left Woojin’s mouth, everyone groaned at the reminder, except for Younghyun who laughed at the kid’s reaction instead. Together, they walked away from the building until they had to seperate.

“You played well tonight.” Minho suddenly said and turned his head to his right, earning a confused look from Jisung. Shortly after Jisung tore his eyes from Minho so that he couldn’t see how his cheeks turned pink from his compliment, his heart pounding in a fast pace. 

“Thank you,” stammered Jisung, still dumbfounded. Minho simpered at Jisung’s adorable reaction, admiring his chubby, rosy cheeks, he would love to pinch, his big, brown eyes sparkled bright under the orange streetlight, his pink tinted, kissable lips in silence. 

The thought of kissing made him all giddy but then he realized that it wouldn’t happen. Because Jisung didn’t had these types of feelings for him. He would never develop romantic feelings for him, he was sure of it but he still had this small ember of hope, that Jisung indeed liked him in the same way as Minho did, in his heart.

✧✧✧

It had been less than a week since he went with his friends to the ice hockey match. Since then, Minho didn’t see Jisung once at school, which irritated and sad because they couldn’t meet up to work on their presentation. Either he avoided Minho as much as he could or he skipped school. Minho excluded the latter one because it wasn’t Jisung’s type to skip school but oddly enough, he didn’t spot him hanging out with his friends. He debated if he should ask Hyunjin and Co. about Jisung, but he decided it would be better to not do so. Instead, he determined to pay him a visit.

And that was what he exactly did.

Right now, he stood in front of the door and knocked on it, tapping impatiently his foot while waiting for someone to open the door for him. Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait for a long time because the door opened up and behind it stood Younghyun, wearing ripped jeans and a black, oversized flannel shirt over his white basic shirt. 

“Wait… Minho, right?”

“You’re damn right.”

“I guess, you’re looking for Jisung?”  
“Yes, I actually am.”

“Wait, come inside first.” Younghyun said as he stepped to the side to completely open the door. Minho thanked him before he entered the apartment, breathing in the sweet scent that lingered in the air of the Han household. 

“So,” started Younghyun in a low voice as he the door behind him and followed Minho inside the open living room, “I don’t really know how to start but let’s say Jisung doesn’t feel very well.”

Minho turned around, his forehead furrowed. His anger vanished into thin air, replaced by worry. “What do you mean with that?”

“Jisung barely left his room since Sunday and when he did, it was to go to ice hockey practice. I don’t know what caused him to behave like this. He doesn’t even want talk to me.”

“I will talk to him. I don’t care if he wants to or not.”

“Good luck then.”

“Thanks, I’ll surely need it.”

With that, he turned on his heels and roamed towards Jisung’s room, knocking swiftly against his bedroom door once he reached it. A muffled groan sounded from behind the door. He didn’t open it. So, Minho tried it once again.

“Younghyun hyung, what do you not understand under ‘leave me alone’?” said Jisung, his voice sounding hoarse, mostly exhausted. 

Minho remained silent and knocked again. Then he heard loud footsteps nearing and the door swung open. 

“Jesus Christ, do I really have-” As Jisung appeared, seeing Minho instead of his brother in front of the door, he closed his mouth abruptly. “Minho hyung?”

Minho almost gasped when he looked at Jisung’s; the younger had a deep cup on the left corner of his under lip, a blue-purplish bruise in the size of an egg on his left cheek and heavy, dark circles under his eyes. He went pass Jisung in a rush without waiting for his permission to enter it. 

When Minho eyed Jisung’s room, his jaw dropped; it was a complete _ mess _. Dirty clothes spread all over the floor, a pile of used plates as well as dozens of paper wads distributed on the desk. The sunlight hardly shone through the window due to the blinds being closed. His room represented very well how Jisung currently looked like.

Minho turned back to Jisung, who closed the door and leaned with his back against it.“God, Jisung. It looks like an atom bomb exploded in your room. Is everything alright? Are _ you _alright?”

“Yes, I’m… I’m completely fine, hyung. Really… It looks worse than it… than it really is.” Jisung stuttered, looking at his feet instead of keeping eye contact with Minho. Minho walked to him, fondly grabbed his chin and turned it to his left side, inspecting it more precise. 

“Ouch, this looks really bad. What did even happen to you that you have these bruises?”

“We had a game on Tuesday and someone of the opponents pushed Hyunjin harshly to the ground and I… I kind of got mad and threw my gloves and helmet to the ground and yeah… then we fought,” explained Jisung roughly, grasping gently Minho’s wrist to lower his hand from his chin. 

“Jisung. Look me in the eyes.” Minho said, his voice sounding more softly than demanding. Jisung obeyed. He looked at him, a line appearing between his brows. 

“Jisung. Are you really alright?” repeated Minho his question carefully.

This time, Jisung hesitated a 

moment before he shook his head, tears shimmering in his eyes. “No. I’m not fine, hyung. I… I feel like utter shit. I can’t - I can’t sleep because I can’t stop overthinking. I neglected my friends and my family and ignored their messages although I know they just are worried about me and want to check up on me but I don’t want them to see me like that. And then I have to write this stupid essay in literature which is due to tomorrow and I don’t even have one word in my document. And this whole scenario could’ve been avoided if I just didn’t feel like shit.”

Jisung broke down in tears and sobbed continuously. Minho came closer and pulled him into a warm embrace so that Jisung pressed his face into his shoulder, circling his arms tightly around Minho’s body, and cried even harder. His hand ran through Jisung’s soft, long blond hair, whispering ‘It’s okay’ to him as if it was a mantra. 

Seeing Jisung like this made Minho’s aching heart shattering into million tiny pieces. Jisung left at the day, where they met up at his place for the first time to work on their presentation, a complete different impression on Minho; he was no longer the obnoxious, loud kid from his history class but more an interesting boy with a great humour and a pure, genuine heart. 

Minho moved Jisung’s head from his shoulder away to cup it with his hands and looked him deep in the eyes. “Listen, you’re going to take a little nap.”

“But, hyung, I have to work-”

“No, buts. You’re going to take a nap and I will set an alarm for you so that you have time to work on it,” suggested Minho, smiling fondly at him. “Does that sound good?”

Jisung nodded silently before Minho gently wiped his tears away with his thumbs. After they parted from the hug, Minho took Jisung’s hand in his. Jisung’s heart pounded at the sudden touch, a flush creeping up his face. Jisung hoped that Minho didn’t notice it because else it would become very awkward between them. But Jisung didn’t know that Minho, too, liked holding his soft, small hand. 

As they sauntered towards Jisung’s bed, Minho gave his hand a quick squeeze before he let it go, making Jisung sad due to the loss of Minho’s warm touch. He hoped internally that Minho would hold his hand only a little bit longer. 

Minho removed the blanket from the bed, pressing it on his body.

Jisung was confused. “Hyung, what are you doing?”

“I’m gonna tuck you in.”

“Hyung, I can do it by myself. I’m sixteen, not six,” giggled Jisung and it was one of the cutest sounds Minho had ever heard. 

“I don’t care. Lay down on your bed.”

Jisung rolled his eyes jokingly, shaking his head in disbelief, as he got into bed while his mouth curved into a smile. Minho put the blanket over Jisung’s body and pulled it up to his chin, tucking him in as if hewas a toddler and not a teenager. Jisung slid one hand under his pillow while he placed the other one on his pillow, laying his head over it. 

“Feeling all good and comfy?”

  
“Yep.”

Silence. 

“Hyung?”

“Yeah?”

“I won the fight,” said Jisung with a hint of cockiness in his voice.

Minho rolled his eyes, grinning at the same time. “Good night, Jisung.”

“Night, hyung.”

Minho perched down in front of Jisung’s bed, sitting cross-legged on the cold parquet, and waited until he was sure that Jisung dozed off. And then he sat on the floor for ten minutes, scrolling through his SNS accounts before he got up from the ground. His eyes wandered through the room until they landed on the item he was searching for; Jisung’s laptop. Thanks to the rays of the sun, that found its way through the slits of the blinds, shining on the metallic black surface of the electronic device, which was located on the ground, hidden under a pile of clothes. He crouched, picked it up and tip-toed back to his previous spot. Then he sat down with stretched out legs, back leaning against the plank of the bed, placed Jisung’s laptop on his lap and folded it back. 

Luckily, after the blackscreen disappeared, Jisung’s desktop popped up and Minho opened Jisung’s inbox, searching for the mail with the criterias of his essay. Once he found it, he clicked on it and while he was waiting for the mail to open, he thrummed with his fingers on the touchpad. When the mail opened, Minho read through it, quickly but carefully. As soon as he was done reading it, he cracked his knuckles before he opened a new Word document. 

“Let’s get this shit done,” whispered Minho to himself. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


The next morning, Jisung woke up to the shrill sound of his phone alarm ringing but he turned it off right away. He sat up on his bed, yawning as he stretched his arms up in the air. His eyes widened when he recalled the memories from yesterday. 

Minho was in his room to check up on Jisung, who broke down in front of him (honestly, he was kind of embarrassed that he had to break down in front of his possible crush) but Minho tried his best to comfort him and later on he brought him to bed. He promised him that he would set an alarm for him so that he could write his essay. But where was he? And what time was it?

Jisung grabbed his phone to check out the time and he shivered in panic.

6 o’clock in the morning. He slept for ten hours. His first lesson would begin in two hours, which means he had only two fucking hours to write his essay.

Did Minho prank him? Was comforting Jisung and holding his hand just a sick, twisted joke of him?

He threw his phone against the mattress pulled his legs closer to his body and wrapped his arms around them, laying his head on his knees, gripping the fabric of his sweatpants until his knuckles turned white. Tears of anger filled his eyes but he fought them back. 

Jisung was mad. He was mad at Minho for playing with his feelings as if they were some toys that he could throw easily away. But mostly, he was mad at himself. Mad, because he fell into Minho’s trap, which was to pretend being someone with a sincere and lovely personality. Mad, because he fell for someone who didn’t deserve his feelings. 

Jisung released from the current position (his back started to hurt after a few mintutes), swung his legs over the edge of his bed and pushed himself from it, hissing after his bare feet touched the ice cold ground. He looked to his left and his brows snapped together as he saw that his laptop was on his table, flipped up and being charged. He was sure that he hadn’t used his laptop in the last few days. 

He neared his desk and the first thing he noticed was a message, sloppy written, on a wrinkled paper.

Check your mails.

Love, Minho.

p.s. please clean your room as soon as possible. 

While Jisung was waiting for his laptop to turn on, he muttered under his breath a ‘Come on’. As soon as it switched on, he typed in his password and pressed the enter button. Not even a second later, his inbox appeared on his screen, where he found an open mail which was sent to his literature teacher. Jisung read the mail. 

_ Good Evening Mr. Kim _

_ With this mail, I send you my essay in form of a Word document, which I attached in this mail, about ‘The Republic’ by the Greek philosopher Plato. _

_ Greetings _

_ Han Jisung _

Hold on a second.

Did Minho wrote his essay? 

No, that couldn’t be true. This had to be a joke. This whole thing had to be a dream. To test this, he pinched his skin and winced like a hurt puppy at the pain. At least he was sure that it wasn’t a dream.

Jisung knitted his eyebrows as he clicked on with his mouse pad on the attached document. His jaw dropped while he stared unbelievably at the document, which was three pages long, about the book he had to analyze. The corner of Jisung’s mouth quirked up, bringing a toothy smile on his face. He sat down on his chair with his right elbow placed on his desk and his chin resting on his palm, smiling dreamily to himself. 

Fuck, he really fell for him, didn’t he?

  
  


✧✧✧

  
  
  


Before Jisung went with his regular bus to school, he took a short, warm shower and put on some black jeans, which he combined with a long-sleeved, black and white striped shirt and white simple sneakers. He slipped his favorite worn out jeans jacket from his dad’s teenage years over and swung his backpack over his shoulder. Saying a quick goodbye to his brother, he left the apartment and rushed down the stairs in order to catch his bus. 

When his bus stopped in front of the bus stop, Jisung disembarked and spotted Ryujin, Eunji, Seungmin and Felix sitting on the bench, laughing and chatting casually with each other. It seemed like as if they were killing time because they were maybe waiting for someone (and Jisung was pretty sure that he wasn’t this person.) After his mental conflict if he should approach them or not, he came to the decision that he was going to do it. Just as he walked halfway through, his friends turned their heads in his direction, gazing at him with a smile on their faces.

“Hi guys. I’m sorry that I’ve avoided your messages. I know that it was a shitty move of me to not text you back but I just didn’t feel well and in the mood to talk with someone,” explained Jisung as soon as he arrived, cracking nervously his knuckles out of habit. 

“It’s okay, Sungie,” said Felix, understanding. “What matters is that you’re feeling better today.”

Eunji chimed in wrapping one arm around Jisung’s shoulder. “Exactly, your mental health comes first and if you ever need someone’s advice, we are here for you if you have any problems.”

“And you didn’t miss much either way so… yeah,” shrugged Ryujin, pursing her lips. 

“Thank you guys for your understanding. I love you so much.”

“We love you, too, you cheesy ass person.”

“I just realized that Hyunjin and Jeongin aren’t here yet. Where are they?”  
“Their bus has a five minute delay but they should be here soon.”

Jeongin ran out of the bus as if someone was chasing him, panting for breath while propping up on his lap. “Oh my fucking god, you don’t fucking believe what Hyunjin has done.”

  
“Has he done something embarrassing?”

“No,” cackled Jeongin as he noticed Seungmin’s smile fading, pouting like a tiny puppy instead, “but he-”

“OH MY. HWANG FUCKING HYUNJIN. WHAT THE FUCK AM I SEEING?” Eunji screeched excitedly while Hyunjin was walking nonchalantly towards them, hands tucked in the pockets of his washed out jeans, the hood of his emerald green hoodie covering the most part of his black hair. The silver haired girl wasn’t squealing because of how the boy dressed himself; it was the shiny, silver ring embracing the lower lip. 

“Is that thing real?” asked Ryujin, staring agape at him. 

He nodded. “It actually is.”

“How did you convince your parents? Weren’t they against it?” asked Felix, shocked, while admiring his lip piercing in silence. 

  
“Yes, they were I at first but I did convince them by pleading on my knees.”

“Hwang Hyunjin, you look so hot. I’m so excited for Changbin’s reaction,” said Jisung, smirking while wiggling his eyebrows teasingly. 

Hyunjin’s face scrunched and whined in embarrassment before he digressed from the topic. “Anyway. Are you guys still up for the sleepover tonight?”

The sleepover! Jisung forgot about it after all the stress he had to deal in the last two weeks because of the project. They had planned this since months but there was always something that got in their way nonetheless today they were, finally, going to pull the plan through. The sleepover would take place at Hyunjin’s house since his place was the biggest one out of them seven and most importantly, his parents weren’t in town at the moment so they had the entire house for themselves and could, practically, do everything they wanted.

“Of course!” Eunji stated and squealed enthusiastically while clapping her hands like a happy, playful seal. 

“It’s going to be a fun night!” exclaimed Felix, back hugging his boyfriend as a satisfied, warm smile appeared on his face.

If they only knew what would come up to them this night. 

  
  


✧✧✧

  
  
  


It was almost seven o’clock in the evening as Minho stepped inside the house and closed softly the door behind him with his foot. He came home from figure skating practice, his clothes soaked in sweat just like his hair. Beads of sweat ran down his back and his face, which dripped to the ground from his chin. He gasped quietly for air since his lungs burnt like as if he ran a marathon. His tensed muscles craved after relaxation. His feet hurt and had a hard time carrying his wobbly legs.

Today’s figure skating practice was one of the best he had for a long time. His brain turned off, forgetting, his problems for a moment, and he could skate and perform jumps (and even land those neatly!) with all the collected energy in his body, as if there was no tomorrow. 

But now, he wanted to stand underneath the showerhead, the hot water jet landing on his skin. Oh god, only the thought of it made him happy. 

He climbed the stairs up and ambled nonchalantly towards his bedroom. Arriving at the door, he pushed it open and entered it; he couldn’t believe what he saw through his own two eyes. Chan, Woojin, Changbin, Minkyung and Soojin stood in a line in front of his working desk, each of them holding a colored envelope, and gazed at him with a stern look. On the wall behind them, right above their heads, hung a narrow, white poster. The word ‘intervention’ were written down with a red marker in big letters.

“Minho,” started Changbin, “this is an intervention.”

“It’s about your obsession with Jisung,” continued Chan for Changbin.

“Are you guys for real now? We aren’t in an episode of ,How I Met Your Mo-’”

Minho couldn’t even finish because he got interjected by the sound of Minkyung opening her blue envelope to pull out the letter and unfolding. Then she started to read it out loud.

“Dear Minho. I find it kinda creepy but also cute, your Jisung obsession. But I have to ask you one question. Do you hide your love behind the hate? If you do, blow this feeling away because confessing to him will never be to late.”

Minho’s look on his face altered from a puzzled into an annoyed one. “Are you actually kidding me?” He was fuming. 

“Minho, can you just calm-”

“No! I’m not gonna calm down!” Minho interrupted Soojin, who noticed beforehand the anger, that bubbled up in his body, glinting in his eyes. “You don’t know when to fucking stop with this bullshit. Are you all this stupid? I’m fucking sick and tired of your behavior.”

He tossed his bag aggressively on his bed, perching on the edge of his bed while gripping the roots of his greasy hair that it almost hurted. 

“Minho, it was meant to be a joke.”

“I don’t care, Woojin hyung!” yelled Minho as he let go his hands from his head to glare at his friends. The vein on his neck slowly started to appear. Soojin approached him, sitting down next to, and laid one hand on his shoulder but he shook her hand off, heaving himself from his bed. 

“Don’t touch me, Soojin. I know you want to comfort me but… please. I know you like to tease me and joke about me and I admit that it is sometimes funny but you don’t know how _I_ _feel _about him! Yes, I do admit that I fucking like Han Jisung. But I’m not happy.” Minho’s sight got blurry for a moment, but instead of holding them back he gave in and let them flow down his cheeks.

“And do you know why? Because it hurts liking him. It hurts so fucking much to know that he doesn’t reciprocate my feelings. Yeah, I know we didn’t have a great start but then I met the real Jisung. The hardworking, passionate, incredible Jisung, who let his mask fall in front of me. There. Are you now satisfied?”

Chan was the first one who pulled him into a warm embrace. Without hesitating for a second, Minho wrapped his arms tightly around Chan’s slim, well built body and tucked his head into the crook of his neck, tears running down his face while muffled sobs escaped from his lips. He felt how Soojin, who he recognized by the smell of her favorite perfume, hugged him from behind and pressing her cheek against his back, Changbin coming from the side while Minkyung came from the other side with Woojin.

Chan swallowed hard. “Minho, we are so sorry.” He whispered.

“If we knew about your feelings, we wouldn’t have done that,” said Minkyung, her voice swimming in guilt. 

“It’s okay,” whispered Minho, his voice cracking at the end, “I’m just being a drama queen. I’m the one, who should be sorry. I shouldn’t have let my pent up frustration out on you.”

“To be honest, we shouldn’t have done that. But at least you can breathe now, Minho. You don’t have to hide your anger, frustration and sadness anymore and pretend, that everything is alright. As much as we tease you, I hope you know that we love you so much and we could have never wished for a better friend like you.”

“Shit, Changbin hyung, you made me even more cry,” chuckled Minho in between his hiccups. “I love you guys so much. I’m so happy to have you in my life.”

Chan tilted his head to side to lay it on Minho’s. “We love you, too.”

Girdled by the cozy and pleasant silence, they continued to hug each other for a few more minutes before they eventually parted and Minho wiped the tears away the back of his hand, groaning with pain as his headache from all the crying got worse. He felt like as if he knocked his head against the wall with a slam. So, he lied back on his bed, propping up on his elbows as he put his head back in his neck.

“Shit, my head hurts so much,” winced Minho, closing his eyes.

“Do you need painkillers? Or Aspirin? Or anything else?”

Minho shook his head when Woojin questioned him.

“Are you sure?” inquired Soojin, who sat next him, legs crossed.

Minho sat straight up, rolling his eyes playfully while his lips curled up at the concern. “Yes, I’m sure. I just need a hot, steaming shower.”

“I guess, we’re going to leave you alone now.”

“What? No, please don’t leave. After showering, we can watch a movie here. f I have to, I will even take a quick shower.”

“Can we choose the movie?”

Minho snorted at Minkyung’s question. “As if you don’t do that always when we watch a movie. But yes, you can.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Ya! Kim Seungmin, stop trying to put Kkami’s tail in his mouth!” scolded Hyunjin him before he threw strenuously one of his pillows at his face, which Seungmin, who gently stroked the fluffy fur of Hyunjin’s four-pawed friend, was able skillfully to dodge. 

Seungmin straightened up his back, giggling. “Geez, I was just helping him to find his tail so that he could put it in his mouth on his own.”

Kkami escaped from Seungmin’s embrace and settled himself on the ground in between Jisung and Eunji, rubbing content his head against the soft fabric of Eunji’s pajamas. While these two were sitting on the rather uncomfortable parquet floor, Jeongin, Ryujin and Felix lay prone on Hyunjin’s king sized bed, each of them hugging a pillow. 

Outside, the warm bronze sunlight was swallowed by the horizon. The bright sunny day engulfed in darkness. In the gathering gloom the stars shone along with the moon brighter in the sky than ever before, outshined by the artificial glow of the streetlamps. Rattling cars speeded on the road, they heard since the balcony doors were open, and passed by the house faster than the chill wind, cooling the down the room.

Jisung pulled his legs closer to his body, wrapped his arms around them and placing his chin on his knees, eyeing the socks he wore; these were his favorite ones since first of all they were cozy, baby blue and, especially, they had tiny Labrador puppies on them and second, he got them from his brother as a Christmas gift.

“Jisung, do you have any ideas what we can do?”

“Playing UNO maybe?”

“Felix hyung, you really shouldn’t have asked him that.” 

“What’s wrong with my suggestion?”

“Literally everything,” answered Seungmin for Jeongin.

“Also it’s a boring ass card game,” added Ryujin as she leaned on her elbows, chin resting on her palms. 

Jisung fake gasped and clutched his chest dramatically. “How _ dare _ you to insult one of the best card games ever?

“Best card game ever?” Hyunjin frowned. “I guess you have never played Cards Against Humanity.”

“Oh my god, I totally agree with you.Do you have one set here?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Hyunjin cracked a smile when he saw Eunji sulking after receiving the response. 

“Wait, how about truth or dare?”

While everyone was groaning in annoyance, Jisung drifted away from reality and had in his mind an inner debate with himself. The whole day he was thinking of what happened yesterday when Minho visited him and comforted him while he broke down. And as much as he forced himself to stop thinking about it during class, he couldn’t. He couldn’t forget the tingling in his stomach when Minho embraced him. He couldn’t forget the warmth spreading in his body when Minho held his hand and how cold it felt as soon as Minho let his hand go. He couldn’t forget his sorrowful look and his calming words. This whole event was engraved in his brain.

“Jisung, why are blushing?” Dumbfounded, Jisung laid his palms on his cheeks and indeed, they were burning as if his body was on fire.

“Aww, he’s thinking about Minho,” cooed Hyunjin teasingly, earning a deathly look of Jisung.

“No, I’m not thinking about this dickhead,” lied Jisung, pressing, embarrassed, his face against his thighs.

“Liar, liar pants on fire,” said Felix in a singing voice. 

Ryujin covered her mouth, her snicker still audible. “Yeah, he probably thought about him-”

“Okay, fine, I’m thinking about him because something happened between us,” interjected Jisung her, gaining all the attention after losing his temper. 

“What happened, Sung?” asked Eunji, a slight hint of concern in her voice, after she lifted a clueless Kkami to place him on the other side so that she could scoot over to Jisung.

“You know I have this project thing with him, right?” Everyone nodded slowly their heads. 

“Usually, we worked in the meeting room of the school council but one day we couldn’t use it so we decided to work on this day at my place instead and a few days later at his.” Jisung decided to leave out the personal conversation he had with him because he hadn’t the right to reveal these private informations.

“And you guys were right. It wasn’t that bad to work with him. I enjoyed working with him and many funny and totally absurd moment happened,” said Jisung, giggling at the end as he recalled the memories.

“He isn’t as bad as I have imagined it. He is very intelligent, creative, nice, caring and has a weird but a good sense of humor. When I spotted him sitting along with you, my brother and his friends in the crowd, my heart pounded so harshly in my chest that I almost couldn’t breathe. The thought of Minho watching me, playing ice hockey, made me so nervous, and it wasn’t like that I was already nervous about the game, but I thankfully managed to keep a cool head. I know I sound so dumb right now but hearing him cheer with you guys, boosted my determination to shoot this puck into the goal. Afterwards, right before we all separated, he complimented me and it made my heart flutter.”

Embarrassed by his confession, Jisung’s cheeks turned pink, avoiding the teasing but fondly looks his friends were giving him. Jisung found this whole situation he got into so ironic; his friends joked since forever about him disliking Minho for his personality, but now he was sitting here and acknowledged to himself that he developed feelings for the boy he held a grudge against for more than two years. 

“And what’s now the problem?” asked Ryujin worriedly, propping herself up on her elbows.

“I’m scared.”

Jeongin’s brows drew together. “Why are you scared?”

Jisung sighed sadly. “Because I know that this is an one-sided thing.”

“Listen Jisung,” said Hyunjin before he stood up and perched in front of Jisung, arms placing on Jisung’s knees, “I beli- no - I’m sure that he has feelings for you as well.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, I do,” smiled Hyunjin tenderly at Jisung, who by now lifted his head and looked at his best friend with soft, sparkly eyes. 

“We all do, Jisung, because it’s impossible to not fall for someone unique and wonderful human being like you.”

“And if doesn’t have any feelings for you then he’s an idiot,” added Eunji to Felix’s previous comment as she rested her head on his shoulder.

A chuckle left Jisung’s mouth. “Wow, I didn’t know that you can say nice things about me.”

“Okay let’s drag you then! Im gonna start-”

“No, please, don’t” interjected Jisung Jeongin, pouting.

“Just kidding. Love you.”

“I love you guys, too.”

“So… are we playing truth or dare now or?”

“NO!”

✧✧✧

  


It was Sunday night, the day before Jisung had to do the presentation with Minho. Instead of being in his bedroom, going one last time through his notes, he was on his way to the park which was, by foot, ten minutes away from his apartment. The reason for the visit was Lee Minho.

Before he left the apartment, Jisung was doing his homework but the buzz noise, which came from his phone, disrupted him from work. He wasn’t concentrated either way but that didn’t hinder him from trying to solve this difficult math problem. As his phone lit up, his heart was racing harshly against his chest not only at the sight of Minho’s name appearing on his display but also the message he received.

**from: minho hyung**

to: jisung

hey 

are you free rn? (9.31pm)

Without hesitation, he responded to his messages.

**to: minho hyung**

from: jisung

yes, i am

why do you ask? (9.32pm)

**from: minho hyung**

to: jisung

do you have time to meet up in the local park? (9.32pm)

**to: minho hyung**

from: jisung

uh

yes i do

when should we meet? (9.33pm)

**from: minho hyung**

to: jisung

asap?

only if it’s okay for you (9.33pm)

**to: minho hyung**

from: jisung

it’s okay for me :)

see you then

Soon after Jisung sent him these messages, he quickly replaced his sweatpants with a pair of jeans and slipped over a flannel shirt before he put on his shoes in the entrance. His mom, who laid on the couch while watching some cheesy K-Drama’s on the TV, inquired him where he was going. Jisung replied with that he was going to take a short walk to clear his head. Before his mother could tell him when he had to be back home, he already stepped out and closed the door behind him.

  
Although Jisung wore this thin flannel shirt in this chilly night, it was still enough to keep his body warm. The moon under siege by stars seemed to lighten the night bringing forth stars that shone and hung in the blackness. The bright, orange street lamps illuminated the from the never ending blackness consumed path. Shortly after crossing the street he arrived at the park.

Right now, during nighttime, lingered an eerie atmosphere in the park caused by the darkness that engulfed the shadows of the trees. The dim light of the laternes on the roadside lit up the park, helping to reveal the usually heavily visited place only a little bit. Many teenagers, children, adults and even elders spend their time here by taking a walk or doing a small picnic underneath the huge twin tree during a warm, sunny day. Jisung, too, loved to hang out here with his friends and his family, especially when he was younger. Hyunjin, Ryujin and him ran through the whole park, trying to catch each other, or they had done some sports like badminton or soccer. 

After nearing the park, Jisung spotted Minho sitting on a bench, hands tucked in the pocket of his jeans. The white beanie on his head didn’t only cover his ears but also his hair yet there were a few strands peaking out. His fair skin gleamed underneath the sallow light, his eyes sparkling brighter than the twinkling stars in the night sky. Jisung couldn’t stop himself from admiring the ethereal beauty of Minho, who looked like an angel (the only thing that was missing was the halo hovering above his head.)

Jisung didn’t comprehend that his hands were shaking. He wasn’t even sure why; either it was because of the cold air or because he was nervous about meeting Minho (Jisung thought it was probably the latter reason.) He took one deep breath. As he approached Minho, the older one stood up from the bench and shifted the weight nervously from foot to foot while he was waiting for Jisung.

“Hi,” whispered Jisung as he arrived, standing in front of him with a huge gap in between them.

“Hi,” repeated Minho, smiling lightly.

Jisung sucked his lips into a straight. “So, why are we here? If I’m allowed to ask.”

“Of course you are,” giggled Minho, quickly pulling his beanie more down. He closed his eyes and exhaled a long, shaky breath.

Jisung frowned, tilting his head slightly to the side. “Minho hyung?”

“Shit, how do I start?” mumbled Minho as he ran desperately his hand over his face, making Jisung even more confused than he already was.

“Minho-”

“I like you.”

Jisung’s heart skipped a beat when he heard Minho’s confession. He stopped breathing for a second. He stared agape at Minho, completely speechless. Lee Minho, his crush, confessed to him. What should he say? Every human being with a right mind would tell the truth, which was that he also had deep feelings for Minho. 

But Jisung was afraid. He was afraid that his heart would get broken. Afraid that he wasn’t good enough for Minho. Minho was just too perfect for him. He didn’t want to ruin the relationship because of his cowardness. Minho deserved someone better.

“I-I don’t… how to respond?” stuttered Jisung and played nervously with the hem of his flannel shirt to avoid eye contact.

“Please, just tell me if you return my feelings or not,” begged Minho him with a pleading, almost hurtful, voice.

He raised his head to meet Minho’s gaze. A huge mistake. His heart clenched as he faced Minho, hopeful eyes staring right into his big ones. Jisung gripped the fabric of his jeans. Now, he was doing another massive mistake. 

“I …. don’t like you back.”

Minho stayed silent for a moment.

“Can you say it again?”

Jisung pressed his lips into a thin line. No, he couldn’t say it again. It hurt so much saying these words. Instead, he would like to scream how much he liked him to the point that he couldn’t stop thinking about him. In this instant, he would like to hug him and never let him go. Yet, he decided to repeat his words while his facial expression hardened. 

“I don’t like you.”

Minho nodded his head in understanding as sadness clouded his features, trying to ignore his heart that broke into millions of pieces. He should have known better. He should have known that it was a dumb idea of him to confess to the one who disliked him. These little sparks of hope at the beginning had gone out now. 

Minho swallowed hard. “Okay. Tomorrow, after our presentation, I’m going to leave you alone and try to stay away from you as much as I can.”

And with these last words he walked past Jisung, leaving him behind in this park, alone. Jisung shut tightly his eyes that it almost hurt. He wrapped his arms protectively around his body before he perched on the ground.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

He messed up so bad. He let the opportunity of admitting to like him slip out of his hands. Why did he have to be such a coward? He developed feelings for someone who liked him for being himself. Someone non-judgemental. Someone caring. Someone who was worthy to like back. And so had Minho his own personal reasons to like him back. Jisung was sure that Minho’s feelings were genuine or else he wouldn’t have come to his ice hockey game. Or he wouldn’t have comforted him when he was at one of his deepest lows. 

Without thinking for a second, Jisung stood up and ran across the park, turning to the right side. To Jisung’s luck, he didn’t have to run much because after a few seconds he noticed a tall, slim silhouette walking on the sidewalk from his spot. He slowed down until he stood still.

“MINHO HYUNG!” screamed Jisung at the top of his lungs. But Minho didn’t show any reaction. Instead, he continued to walk farther. Jisung rolled his eyes in irritation, shouting again to gain Minho’s attention.

“STAND STILL, YOU UGLY ASS!”

Surprisingly, Minho indeed stopped walking and turned slowly around to see Jisung, who stood a few meters across from him, running towards him. 

“Are you going to tell me how I’m a-”

Jisung silenced him by pressing gently his chapped lips on Minho’s full and soft ones. Minho widened his eyes. He was too shocked to react. There was this tingling feeling in his stomach as if thousands of butterflies were flying there. His heart did somersaults like a circus acrobat would have done it. But there wasn't much time to respond either way because Jisung pulled back, opening his eyes, looking at him with a deep frown. 

“Minho hyung, I like you, too. Fuck, you have no idea how much I do. I'm so sorry for not being honest to you. I am a coward who denied having feelings towards the most amazing person in this world because I was scared of some stupid things. But if you don’t want to-”

“It’s okay,” muttered Minho before he leaned in to lock their lips again, shutting dreamily his eyes. 

Jisung stood baffled on the same spot as if the cogs in his brain stopped spinning. His body didn’t know how to react. He never had experienced something like this in his whole life. Something this beautiful and breathtaking. He closed his eyes and hooked his arms loosely around Minho’s neck. And he kissed him back. His veins throbbed, and his heart was exploding like thousands of fireworks in the night sky.

Minho’s fingertips grazed the back of Jisung’s nape, in constant quiet motion; a goosebump spread infectiously on Jisung’s skin at the tender touch. He wrapped his free arm around Jisung’s waist, pulling him closer to his body until there wasn’t a gap in between them. But he wanted him closer and closer and closer. He wished that this moment wouldn’t ever stop.

  
  
  
  


✧✧✧

  
  
  
  


Jisung stood in front of his locker and provided his stuff in there. The sound of students in the hallway chatting made Jisung roll his eyes in annoyance. Although he didn't know most of them, the aura he got from them irritated him in many ways (or maybe it was the building he was stucked in that annoyed him). He wished he was laying in bed instead while being wrapped in his blanket in complete darkness. A long, tired breath escaped his lips. As soon as he put his last book inside, he closed the door and turned his head to his left, flinching for a short second.

“Oh god, Minho hyung, you scared the shit out of me.”

“I’m sorry,” giggled Minho at Jisung’s whine. He pushed his body away from the lockers to stand in front of Jisung, placing each hand next to Jisung’s head. “But I wanted to check up on you because… you know… we are going to have our presentation in two hours.”

“I’m doing totally fine… I’m only a little bit nervous.” Jisung lied as he leaned against the locker, tilting his head back.

Minho quirked his eyebrow sorrowful. “Are you sure?”

  
Jisung sighed, shaking his head. “No, hyung, I’m going to crap in my pants how petrified I am. I’m so terrified of messing something up.”

“You’re ー noー _ we _are going to nail this. We worked our asses for this. I’m a hundred percent sure that it will come out great,” said Minho, . He took his hands from the locker and cupped Jisung’s face gently, looking affectionately at him. “And if you want to, I can hold your hand.”

“No, it’s okay but thank you so much. I feel a lot calmer now.”

“Well, probably it’s because your boyfriend is the best when it’s about calming someone down,” said Minho with a smirk. “Anyway I have to leave you unfortunately but we will see us later. Bye.”

“Bye.” Minho gave him a quick peck on his lips before he left to go to his class, Jisung's eyes resting on his silhouette. 

"HAN JISUNG!" This made him look away from Minho. So, he turned around and spotted his friends walking, almost jogging, towards him

"You, my friend, have to explain us a lot." Ryujin said, pointing at him before she hooked her arm around his shoulder.

"And don't leave out any details," added Hyunjin. 

"Oh, boy this is going to be a long story."

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed reading it!
> 
> feel free to leave kudos and/or comments <3


End file.
